Consumers' active choice behavior promotes coevolutionary units

Abstract

Individual behavior and local context are processes that can influence the structure and evolution of ecological interactions. In trophic interactions, consumers can increase their fitness by actively choosing resources that enhance their chances of exploring them successfully. Upon searching for potential resources, they are able to decide which one to choose according to their fitness benefit and maneuverability. Mathematical modeling is often employed in theoretical studies to understand the coevolutionary dynamics between these species. However, they often disregard the individual consumer behavior since the complexity of these systems usually requires simplifying assumptions about interaction details. Using an individual-based model, we model a community of several species that interact antagonistically. The trait of each individual is modeled explicitly and is subjected to the interaction pressure. In addition, consumers can actively choose the resources that guarantee greater fitness. We show that active consumer choice can generate coevolutionary units over time. It means that the traits of both consumers and resources converge into multiple groups with similar traits, exerting reciprocal selective pressure between them. We also observed that network structure has a greater dependence on the parameter that delimits active consumer choice than on the intensity of selective pressure. Consequently, this parameter can closely match empirical networks. Thus, we consider that the inclusion of consumers active choice behavior in the models plays an important role in the ecological and evolutionary processes that structure these communities.