Density-dependent mortality and the latitudinal gradient in species diversity

Lambers, Janneke Hille Ris; Clark, James S.; Beckage, Brian

doi:10.1038/nature00809

Cited by 304 publications

(241 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Janzen-Connell effects (i.e., patterns of negative density dependence related to natural enemies; Janzen 1970, Connell 1971 are one likely explanation in this and other systems (e.g., Hille Ris Lambers et al 2002, Comita et al 2010, Martin and Canham 2010, Metz et al 2010. Negative-density effects may contribute to the maintenance of species diversity by leading to higher mortality rates in conspecific seedlings.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactions in a warmer world: effects of experimental warming, conspecific density, and herbivory on seedling dynamics

et al. 2014

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Abstract. Many effects of a changing climate for organisms, populations, and ecosystems are already apparent. Less studied are the effects of increases in temperature on species interactions. While warming may potentially alter interactions among species, species interactions may also mediate individual species responses to ongoing climatic change. In this experiment we manipulated temperature in field-based, open-top chambers for three years to examine the relationship between biotic interactions and climatic warming on the population dynamics of seedlings of Quercus alba. We investigated the effect of warming on rates of insect herbivory on Q. alba seedlings. Additionally, we assessed the relative effects of increasing temperature, insect herbivory, and conspecific density on seedling survival. We found two unexpected results. First, we observed a negative relationship between temperature and levels of insect herbivory during each year of the experiment. Second, higher levels of herbivory were associated with higher rates of survival to the second year of the study. Although we never detected a direct effect of conspecific density on seedling survival, herbivory and conspecific seedling density did interact to influence Q. alba seedling survival early in the experiment. Taken together, our results indicate species responses to climatic warming may be contingent on intra-and interspecific interactions, sometimes in complicated and counter-intuitive ways.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactions in a warmer world: effects of experimental warming, conspecific density, and herbivory on seedling dynamics

et al. 2014

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“…The effects of CNDD are proposed to be a powerful mechanism of species coexistence, particularly in diverse tropical forests (Janzen 1970;Connell 1971;Mangan et al 2010) and, more recently, broadly across North American forests (Packer and Clay 2000;Nakashizuka 2001;HilleRisLambers et al 2002;McCarthy-Neumann and Kobe 2010;Johnson et al 2012). However, while CNDD is thought to occur via the accumulation of species-specific pathogens and predators, our model generates these effects via hosts' impacts on partner communities that include cheaters.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Coexistence of Hosts with Different Abilities to Discriminate against Cheater Partners: An Evolutionary Game-Theory Approach

Steidinger

Bever

2014

The American Naturalist

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Evolutionary theory predicts that mutualisms based on the reciprocal exchange of costly services should be susceptible to exploitation by cheaters. Consistent with theory, both cheating and discrimination against cheaters are ubiquitous features of mutualisms. Several recent studies have confirmed that host species differ in the extent that they are able to discriminate against cheaters, suggesting that cheating may be stabilized by the existence of susceptible hosts (dubbed "givers"). We use an evolutionary gametheoretical approach to demonstrate how discriminating and giver hosts associating with mutualist and cheater partners can coexist. Discriminators drive the proportion of cheaters below a critical threshold, at which point there is no benefit to investing resources into discrimination. This promotes givers, who benefit from mutualists but allow cheater populations to rebound. We then apply this model to the plant-mycorrhizal mutualism and demonstrate it is one mechanism for generating host-specific responses to mycorrhizal fungal species necessary to generate negative plant-soil feedbacks. Our model makes several falsifiable, qualitative predictions for plant-mycorrhizal population dynamics across gradients of soil phosphorus availability and interhost differences in ability to discriminate. Finally, we suggest applications and limitations of the model with regard to coexistence in specific biological systems.

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“…Interannual variation has long been used to analyze climate regulation of tree growth (Graumlich 1991, Clark et al 2003a, Stevens et al 2006) and fecundity (McKone et al 1998, Schauber et al 2002, Hampe 2005, Mutke et al 2005. But dynamics of tree populations are highly dependent on recruitment (e.g., Clark et al 1998, Houle 1998, Hubbell et al 1999, Brown and Wu 2005, Stephenson and van Mantgem 2005, Matthes and Larson 2006, which has been studied primarily at fine spatial scales, involving biotic interactions and microsite variation (Beckage et al 2000, Connell and Green 2000, Harms et al 2000, Hille Ris Lambers et al 2002, Wright et al 2005, rather than variation in time. Experiments involving atmospheric effects on recruitment are expensive and, thus, rare (but see DeLucia et al 1999, Ko¨rner 2004, Mohan et al 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We analyzed dynamic responses to climatic variability at the recruitment stage, for dominant tree species growing in five representative communities of the Southern Appalachians. To understand dynamics, more than a decade of spatiotemporal data on each stage, from seed production, through the seed bank, to germination were assimilated in population dynamic models that allowed us to evaluate how environmental influences, light availability, and seed density affected recruitment success (e.g., Kobe et al 1995, Beckage et al 2000, Harms et al 2000, Hille Ris Lambers et al 2002, Hille Ris Lambers and Clark 2003 and, thus, might interact with climate change.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploiting Temporal Variability to Understand Tree Recruitment Response to Climate Change

Ibáñez

Clark

LaDeau

et al. 2007

Ecological Monographs

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136

117

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Abstract. Predicting vegetation shifts under climate change is a challenging endeavor, given the complex interactions between biotic and abiotic variables that influence demographic rates. To determine how current trends and variation in climate change affect seedling establishment, we analyzed demographic responses to spatiotemporal variation to temperature and soil moisture in the southern Appalachian Mountains. We monitored seedling establishment for 10 years in five plots located along an elevational gradient of five dominant tree species: Acer rubrum, Betula spp., Liriodendron tulipifera, Nyssa sylvatica, and Quercus rubra. A hierarchical Bayes model allowed us to incorporate different sources of information, observation errors, and the inherent variability of the establishment process. From our analysis, spring temperatures and heterogeneity in soil moisture emerge as key drivers, and they act through nonlinear population demographic processes. We found that all species benefited from warmer springs, in particular the species found on dry slopes, N. sylvatica, and those dominant at higher elevations, Betula spp. and Q. rubra. This last species also benefited from dry environments. Conversely, L. tulipifera, which is abundant on mesic sites, experienced highest establishment rates at high moisture. The mechanisms behind these results may differ among species. Higher temperatures are apparently more important for some, while dry conditions and reduced pathogenic attacks on their seeds and new seedlings have a large impact for others. Our results suggest that only communities found at higher elevations are in danger of regional extinction when their habitats disappear given the current climatic trends. We conclude that the recruitment dynamics of the communities where these species are dominant could be affected by minor changes in climate in ways that cannot be predicted using only climate envelopes, which use different variables and miss the nonlinearities.

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Density-dependent mortality and the latitudinal gradient in species diversity

Cited by 304 publications

References 27 publications

Interactions in a warmer world: effects of experimental warming, conspecific density, and herbivory on seedling dynamics

Interactions in a warmer world: effects of experimental warming, conspecific density, and herbivory on seedling dynamics

The Coexistence of Hosts with Different Abilities to Discriminate against Cheater Partners: An Evolutionary Game-Theory Approach

Exploiting Temporal Variability to Understand Tree Recruitment Response to Climate Change

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