Source data for: Antagonistic effects of intraspecific cooperation and interspecific competition on thermal performance

Understanding how climate-mediated biotic interactions shape thermal niche
width is critical in an era of global change. Yet, most previous work on
thermal niches has ignored detailed mechanistic information about the
relationship between temperature and organismal performance, which can be
described by a thermal performance curve. Here, we develop a model that
predicts the width of thermal performance curves will be narrower in the
presence of interspecific competitors, causing a species’ optimal breeding
temperature to diverge from that of its competitor. We test this
prediction in the Asian burying beetle Nicrophorus nepalensis, confirming
that the divergence in actual and optimal breeding temperatures is the
result of competition with their primary competitor, blowflies. However,
we further show that intraspecific cooperation enables beetles to
outcompete blowflies by recovering their optimal breeding temperature.
Ultimately, linking abiotic factors and biotic interactions on niche width
will be critical for understanding species-specific responses to climate
change.