Fig. 2.

Examples of context-dependent species interactions. a Resource availability can modulate the sign of interspecific interactions. For instance, local resource limitation can weaken the strength of competition when (i) it selects for cross-feeding or another mutualistic, resource-concentrating behavior, or (ii) when it limits the strength of interspecific negative density dependence. b Likewise, in situations where a shared predator is present, species that do not compete for shared resources can experience apparent competition by supplementing the predator densities. The dashed lines denote trophic interactions, solid line denotes competitive interaction. c These context-dependent interactions can lead to highly variable estimates of the signs of OTU interactions, depending on the spatial distribution of resources or predators within the sample