In this article, we explain an often overlooked process that may significantly contribute to positive correlations between measures of species diversity and community stability. Empirical studies showing positive stability-diversity relationships have, for the most part, used a single class of stability (or, more accurately, instability) measures: the temporal variation in aggregate community properties such as biomass or productivity. We show that for these measures, stability will essentially always rise with species diversity because of the statistical averaging of the fluctuations in species' abundances. This simple probabilistic process will operate in the absence of any strong species interactions, although its strength is driven by the relative abundances of species, as well as by the existence of positive or negative correlations in the fluctuations of species. To explore the possible importance of this effect in real communities, we fit a simple simulation model to Tilman's grassland community. Our results indicate that statistical averaging might play a substantial role in explaining stability-diversity correlations for this and other systems. Models of statistical averaging can serve as a useful baseline for predictions of community stability, to which the influences of both negative and positive species interactions may then be added and tested.

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Although ecological specialists exploit a relatively limited resource base, it is unclear whether specialization limits local population density. Here, we focus on the relationship between diet specialization and local population density of a phytophagous insect, the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella L. (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae). We compared key life history traits and food plant use among five pairs of high- and low-density populations from widely separate geographical areas. Moths from populations that persist at high densities were more generalized in food plant use than moths from low-density populations. In particular, the oviposition preference and larval performance of moths from some high-density populations were less variable across a suite of food plants, suggesting that moths from high- density populations had a broader diet. In addition, low- density populations were less similar to each other, exhibiting opposing preferences for particular plant species. Hence diet breadth may explain some of the persistent differences in the population density of diamondback moths in the field, consistent with the idea that ecological specialization may be generally associated with population density.

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Radar and audiovisual surveys are important tools for identifying nesting habitat and developing inland conservation strategies for the marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus), a threatened seabird that nests in old‐growth forests in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Theoretically, counts from these 2 approaches (radar and audiovisual surveys) in different habitats depend on both habitat‐specific densities and detection probabilities, which could result in spurious or mask differences among habitats if murrelets are more detectable in certain habitat types. Therefore, we used simultaneous audiovisual and radar surveys to estimate detection probabilities and quantify the relationship between detection probabilities and habitat in coastal redwood forests of northern California, USA. Radar and audiovisual counts were highly correlated (r = 0.65) based on 156 simultaneous surveys, but audiovisual surveys detected only 20.2% (2.6 SE) of murrelets detected by radar, whereas radar detected 75.6% (6.3 SE) of murrelets detected by audiovisual surveys. Murrelets tended to be easier to detect with both audiovisual and radar surveys when there were relatively large areas (>35 ha) of unharvested, old‐growth forest at the survey site, probably because birds tended to fly slower and circled more over old growth. Detection probabilities were strongly affected by a variety of other factors including weather, time relative to sunrise, observer, and murrelet behavior. Murrelet counts were positively but weakly correlated to the area of unharvested old growth at the survey site for audiovisual and radar surveys, but this relationship disappeared when we corrected for the effect of habitat on detection probabilities. Our results indicate that raw counts should not be used as indices of nesting densities in different habitats and underscore the need to model heterogeneity in detection probabilities among habitats using available sampling designs and statistical methods. Nevertheless, we recommend using radar instead of audiovisual surveys for counting murrelets in forested areas because detection probabilities were much higher for radar than audiovisual surveys, radar is less likely to detect the same group of murrelets multiple times, and radar surveys can be conducted in poor viewing and hearing conditions.