Stabilization of fluctuating population dynamics via the evolution of dormancy

Abstract

Dormancy is usually understood as a strategy for coping with extrinsically variable environments, but intrinsic population fluctuations also create conditions where dormancy is adaptive. By analyzing simple population models, we show that, very generally, population fluctuations favor the evolution of dormancy, but dormancy stabilizes population dynamics. This sets up a feedback loop that can enable the coexistence of alternative dormancy strategies. Over longer timescales, we show that evolution of dormancy to an evolutionary stable state can drive populations to the edge of stability, where dynamics are only weakly stabilized. We briefly consider how these conclusions are likely to apply in more complex community contexts. Our results suggest that chaos and high-amplitude population cycles are highly vulnerable to invasion and subsequent stabilization by dormancy, potentially explaining their rarity. At the same time, the propensity of ecological dynamics to fluctuate may be an underappreciated driver of the evolution of dormancy.