Investigating Biotic Interactions in Deep Time

Abstract

Recent renewed interest in using fossil data to understand how biotic interactions have shaped the evolution of life is challenging the widely held assumption that long-term climate changes are the primary drivers of biodiversity change. New approaches go beyond traditional richness and co-occurrence studies to explicitly model biotic interactions using data on fossil and modern biodiversity. Important developments in three primary areas of research include analysis of (i) macroevolutionary rates, (ii) the impacts of and recovery from extinction events, and (iii) how humans (Homo sapiens) affected interactions among non-human species. We present multiple lines of evidence for an important and measurable role of biotic interactions in shaping the evolution of communities and lineages on long timescales. Biotic Interactions in the Fossil RecordBiotic interactions occur when organisms living in the same community directly or indirectly influence one another. Biotic interactions can occur within or among species, be positive or negative, and cover a wide range of interactions including predation, commensalism, mutualism, resource competition, and parasitism [1]. Biotic interactions play an important role in structuring modern communities (e.g., [2]). Understanding their importance in the past therefore has the potential to shed light on their role in shaping ancient and recent diversity patterns. Historically, however, the study of biotic interactions in the fossil record has largely focused on direct physical evidence of interactions such as bore holes in shells, plant damage by insects, patterns of bryozoan encrustation, rare occurrences of gut contents, and carnivore damage on bones (e.g., [3,4]). Analysis of unusually well-preserved fossil assemblages allows reconstruction of trophic relationships among diverse organisms (e.g., [5]) and earlier work documented long-term trends in ecospace (see Glossary) occupation [6]. However, temporally continuous evidence for biotic interactions (traditionally thought to structure biodiversity on only very limited spatiotemporal scales [7]) with appropriate temporal resolution (i.e., high-resolution stratigraphic sequences) is only rarely preserved. Consequently, paleontologists have focused primarily on the more accessible long-term trends in climate as important regulators of biodiversity and the differential success of species (e.g., [8]); only short-term ecological phenomena or long-term patterns that cannot be explained by climate have typically been attributed to the outcome of biotic interactions (e.g., [9], but see [6]). However, as the only source of sufficiently long-term data, and in light of several recent methodological advances, the fossil record is now uniquely positioned to answer many of the questions at the core of the evolutionary and ecological sciences. Herein, we address important recent advances in understanding the role of biotic interactions in shaping macroevolutionary and macroecological phenomena in the fossil record (Figure 1) and highlight areas o...

Palaeontology meets metacommunity ecology: the Maastrichtian dinosaur fossil record of North America as a case study

“…2016; Fraser et al . 2020). This is best documented for the Maastrichtian, during which several climatic areas (from a southern evaporite area to a high‐latitude, temperate and humid belt) have been identified in North America (Upchurch et al .…”

“…2019), testing the imprints of functional and phylogenetic features on the spatial variation of Mesozoic terrestrial faunas has been limited (Fraser et al . 2020). Here, we take the next step in the study of the controversial nature of the organization of dinosaur‐dominated communities and apply analytical methods that have been more typically used in the context of metacommunity ecology and biogeography, to provide novel insights into dinosaurian distribution across the latest Cretaceous of North America (Leibold & Mikkelson 2002; Heino & Alahuhta 2015).…”

Testing the Competition Hypothesis: How Niche Overlap Between Carnivoramorphans and Creodonts Changed From the Start to the End of the Eocene

“…Mass extinctions can be driven by rapid, widespread environmental changes (e.g. changes in marine carbon cycling) and, rarer events, such as the impact of extraterrestrial objects (Alvarez et al 1980;Gould and Calloway 1980;Pimm et al 1988;Mayhew et al 2012;Condamine et al 2019;Fraser et al 2020). The majority of extinctions do not occur during mass extinctions however (Raup 1986;De Vos et al 2015), but occur as "background extinctions," and are estimated to occur at a rate of roughly 0.1 extinction per million species per year (De Vos et al 2015).…”

“…The majority of extinctions do not occur during mass extinctions however (Raup 1986;De Vos et al 2015), but occur as "background extinctions," and are estimated to occur at a rate of roughly 0.1 extinction per million species per year (De Vos et al 2015). Drivers of background extinctions include, but are not limited to, environmental change, habitat loss, and interspecific competition (Fraser et al 2020) . One of the most often implicated drivers is climate change, including global changes in temperature, oxygen levels, and tectonic activity (Badgley and Fox 2000;Zachos et al 2001Zachos et al , 2008McInerney and Wing 2011;Mayhew et al 2012;Fraser et al 2020).…”

“…Drivers of background extinctions include, but are not limited to, environmental change, habitat loss, and interspecific competition (Fraser et al 2020) . One of the most often implicated drivers is climate change, including global changes in temperature, oxygen levels, and tectonic activity (Badgley and Fox 2000;Zachos et al 2001Zachos et al , 2008McInerney and Wing 2011;Mayhew et al 2012;Fraser et al 2020). Species vary in their evolutionary response to such changes and thus vary in their survivability (Raup 1986;Pimm et al 1988;Alroy et al 2000;Van Valkenburgh et al 2004).…”