Usually, when community genetics studies extend beyond one trophic level, these focus on how genetic variation among herbivores or their host plants affects herbivore performance or on the bottom-up effects of plant genetic variation on herbivore and predatory arthropods ( reviewed in ). If appropriately established, such a link could have important consequences for biological conservation, as it would imply that preserving (functional) genetic variation within populations could ensure the preservation of entire communities.Ĭommunity genetics addresses the question of how, and to what extent, within-population genetic variation may affect ecological processes, including the outcome of interactions among species. I propose future research to help establish a link between within-population variation and food web structure. Furthermore, trait variation could also contribute to the stability of food web modules through metacommunity dynamics. I discuss other relevant traits whose variation could affect the structure of food webs, such as morphological and additional life-history traits, as well as animal personalities. Here, I show via simulation how variation in two key traits, growth rates and phenology, by influencing the variability of body sizes present through time, can potentially affect several structural parameters in the direction of enhancing food web persistence: increased connectance, decreased interaction strengths, increased variation among interaction strengths and increased degree of omnivory. The role that within-population phenotypic and genetic variation plays in food web structure is largely unknown. Food webs are networks of species that feed on each other.
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