DOI: 10.5061/dryad.8v13t2q
title: Data from: Cyclic population dynamics and density-dependent intransitivity as pathways to coexistence between co-occurring annual plants

description: 1. Recent studies have brought renewed attention to the importance of
 complex species interactions - notably intransitive interactions - to
 patterns of plant community diversity. One underappreciated avenue through
 which intransitivity can occur is through cyclic population dynamics.
 Though such cyclic intransitive relationships have been extensively
 studied in predator-prey systems, evidence of their importance in
 competitive communities, notably plant communities, is more limited. Most
 studies of coexistence in plant communities assume fixed-point coexistence
 even while utilizing models that allow for cyclic population dynamics. 2.
 In this paper, we explore the potential for density-dependent, cyclic
 population dynamics and intransitivity in a model for annual plants. We
 then examine how these density-dependent cycles impact mutual invasibility
 and ultimately stable coexistence between plant species pairs. We do this
 using data collected from four co-occurring annual plant species living in
 natural wildflower communities in SW Western Australia. To maximize the
 number of biologically plausible pathways by which coexistence mediated by
 density-dependent cyclic intransitivity can occur, we use an annual plant
 model that allows for competitive direct interactions, facilitative direct
 interactions, and higher-order interactions between species. 3. Results
 from our empirically-parameterized model suggest that monocultures of all
 four focal species can have cyclic solutions with periodicity greater than
 1 under sunny ("open") or shaded field conditions. Cyclic
 patterns drive variation in annual abundance patterns, with stable
 solutions for persistent monocultures and invasibility potential (the
 capacity of one population to invade another) common. Mutual invasibility
 in the face of cyclic population dynamics was found for just one of six
 species pairs, only under open environmental conditions. Our results
 illustrate the potential for cyclic intransitivity to both drive and
 prevent stable coexistence in environmentally heterogeneous biological
 communities. 4. Synthesis. We provide analytical and empirical evidence
 that coexistence in competitive communities (annual plants) can be
 achieved under non-equilibrium circumstances, through density-dependent
 cyclic intransitivity. Our results suggest that cyclic population dynamics
 may be common and important for coexistence dynamics in some types of
 communities. In such communities, the exploration of stable coexistence
 should therefore include consideration of cyclic as well as fixed-point
 equilibria for maximal accuracy.
description: Raw Fecundity
 DataThis is an R datafile
 containing a data.frame named "fecundity.data" This file reads
 into the R code file: estimate.parameters.R file provided with this paper
 or looked at without the associated regression code. Please reader the
 "Read Me" file for metadata.data.Rdataestimate.parameters.RThis file contains the code for the regression analyses run in this paper. The data.Rdata feeds right into it and the two files can be used as is together. Please read the "Read Me" file provided with the data.Rdata .