The dynamics of coexistence and succession in a decaying ecosystem

Elucidating the rules that govern community assembly and enable the coexistence of species is central to ecology. Much of the current understanding revolves around the composition of communities at equilibrium. In contrast, transient ecological dynamics, in particular the succession of species following an environmental disturbance, remain largely unexplored. We present Gymnogaster buphthalma beetle carcasses as a model to study species coexistence in disequilibrium. In this community, nematodes appear in succession - with multiple feeding and reproductive strategies, transience, and associated dispersal - creating a perfect model for metacommunity ecology. We computationally reconstructed decaying G. buphthalma beetles sampled from the wild using experimentally-derived life history data, i.e. emergence times, sex ratios, and fecundity measurements. Through agent-based modeling, we show that nematode coexistence is possible over a wide range of scenarios. This work provides a unique experimental and computational framework to synthesize various approaches to metacommunity and species succession theories.