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<p>Adaptive divergence among species is reinforced during or after speciation, particularly when species come into secondary contact and face competitive pressures. However, directly testing for adaptive divergence remains challenging. Here, we use ecological niche modeling (ENM) to test for evidence of ecological niche divergence among three closely related and geographically restricted crayfish&#xa0;species that differ in their degree of spatial overlap. We predicted that species pairs with overlapping ranges would show divergent ecological niches, consistent with competition-driven divergence to different ecological niches, while allopatric pairs would show niche conservatism. Using high-resolution ENMs that incorporate soil, climate, and hydrologic variables, we found that the two allopatric species exhibited statistically indistinguishable niches, while the sympatric pair showed significant ecological divergence. The environmental variables responsible for this divergence suggest ecological specialization that may reduce competitive overlap. These findings support a role for competitive exclusion in shaping niche differentiation and highlight the utility of ENMs in testing hypotheses about the ecological mechanisms of speciation.</p>

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Competitive exclusion theory predicts the ecological niches of three congeneric endemic crayfish species

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年9月25日

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  • Sarah A. Burgett,
  • Nathan Schubert,
  • Jared Dickson,
  • Joshua A. Banta

摘要

Adaptive divergence among species is reinforced during or after speciation, particularly when species come into secondary contact and face competitive pressures. However, directly testing for adaptive divergence remains challenging. Here, we use ecological niche modeling (ENM) to test for evidence of ecological niche divergence among three closely related and geographically restricted crayfish species that differ in their degree of spatial overlap. We predicted that species pairs with overlapping ranges would show divergent ecological niches, consistent with competition-driven divergence to different ecological niches, while allopatric pairs would show niche conservatism. Using high-resolution ENMs that incorporate soil, climate, and hydrologic variables, we found that the two allopatric species exhibited statistically indistinguishable niches, while the sympatric pair showed significant ecological divergence. The environmental variables responsible for this divergence suggest ecological specialization that may reduce competitive overlap. These findings support a role for competitive exclusion in shaping niche differentiation and highlight the utility of ENMs in testing hypotheses about the ecological mechanisms of speciation.