Competition increases risk of species extinction during extreme warming

Temperature and interspecific competition are fundamental drivers of community structure in natural systems and can interact to affect many measures of species performance. However, we know surprisingly little about the extent to which competition affects extinction temperatures during extreme warming. This information is important for evaluating future threats to species from extreme high-temperature events and heat waves, which are rising in frequency and severity around the world. Using experimental freshwater communities of rotifers and ciliates, this study shows that interspecific competition can lower the threshold temperature at which local extinction occurs, reducing time to extinction during periods of sustained warming by as much as two weeks. Competitors may lower extinction temperatures by altering biochemical characteristics of the natural environment that affect temperature tolerance (e.g., levels of dissolved oxygen, nutrients, and metabolic wastes) or by accelerating pop..., Please see methods section in corresponding paper., All files are in .txt or .csv format. , # COMPETITION INCREASES RISK OF SPECIES EXTINCTION DURING EXTREME WARMING

Author: Paul Bendiks Walberg ()

Summary: We know surprisingly little about whether competition affects extinction temperature during periods of extreme warming. Using experimental freshwater communities of rotifers and ciliates, this study showed that interspecific competition can lower the temperature at which local extinction occurs, reducing time to extinction during periods of sustained warming by as much as two weeks. The results suggest changes in community structure in space and time could drive variability in the upper thermal limits.

## DATA FILES:

data_density_detail.csv (also data_density_detail.xls)

This file, presented in both .csv and .xlsx format, includes the complete density time series for the three test species. Data are presented in Fig. 1.

species = test species (euplotes, coleps, rotaria)
factor = temperature factor (increasing, constant)
temp = temperature (degrees C)
day = correspondi...