Individualistic species responses invalidate simple physiological models of community dynamics under global environmental change

Davis, Andrew; Lawton, John H.; Shorrocks, Bryan; Jenkinson, Linda

doi:10.1046/j.1365-2656.1998.00223.x

Cited by 267 publications

(236 citation statements)

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“…Birds increased richness by selectively removing abundant carnivorous arthropods, with a particularly strong impact on one introduced spider species (Gruner 2005). This result further highlights the individuality of species traits in creating community pattern (Leibold 1996;Davis et al 1998).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Richness and species composition of arboreal arthropods affected by nutrients and predators: a press experiment

Gruner

Taylor

2006

Oecologia

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A longstanding goal for ecologists is to understand the processes that maintain biological diversity in communities, yet few studies have investigated the combined effects of predators and resources on biodiversity in natural ecosystems. We fertilized nutrient limited plots and excluded insectivorous birds in a randomized block design, and examined the impacts on arthropods associated with the dominant tree in the Hawaiian Islands, Metrosideros polymorpha (Myrtaceae). After 33 months, the species load (per foliage mass) of herbivores and carnivores increased with fertilization, but rarified richness (standardized to abundance) did not change. Fertilization depressed species richness of arboreal detritivores, and carnivore richness dropped in caged, unfertilized plots, both because of the increased dominance of common, introduced species with treatments. Herbivore species abundance distributions were more equitable than other trophic levels following treatments, and fertilization added specialized native species without changing relativized species richness. Overall, bird removal and nutrient addition treatments on arthropod richness acted largely independently, but with countervailing influences that obscured distinct top-down and bottom-up effects on different trophic levels. This study demonstrates that species composition, biological invasions, and the individuality of species traits may complicate efforts to predict the interactive effects of resources and predation on species diversity in food webs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Richness and species composition of arboreal arthropods affected by nutrients and predators: a press experiment

Gruner

Taylor

2006

Oecologia

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“…This climate envelope can then be used to predict the future distribution of species under various climate change scenarios (34). However, climate envelope models have been criticized because they do not integrate the effects of species interactions and dispersal on the distribution of population abundance (35)(36)(37)(38). A recent synthesis proposes integrating the effects of dispersal and species interactions into climate envelopes by adopting a hierarchical modeling framework (34).…”

Section: Effect Of Dispersal and Species Interactions On Natural And mentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological processes can synchronize marine population dynamics over continental scales

Gouhier

Guichard

Menge

2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

102

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Determining the relative importance of local and regional processes for the distribution of population abundance is a fundamental but contentious issue in ecology. In marine systems, classical theory holds that the influence of demographic processes and dispersal is confined to local populations whereas the environment controls regional patterns of abundance. Here, we use spatial synchrony to compare the distribution of population abundance of the dominant mussel Mytilus californianus observed along the West Coast of the United States to that predicted by dynamical models undergoing different dispersal and environmental treatments to infer the relative influence of local and regional processes. We reveal synchronized fluctuations in the abundance of mussel populations across a whole continent despite limited larval dispersal and strong environmental forcing. We show that dispersal among neighboring populations interacts with local demographic processes to generate characteristic patterns of spatial synchrony that can govern the dynamic distribution of mussel abundance over 1,800 km of coastline. Our study emphasizes the importance of dispersal and local dynamics for the distribution of abundance at the continental scale. It further highlights potential limits to the use of "climate envelope" models for predicting the response of large-scale ecosystems to global climate change.dispersal | environmental variability | metapopulation | synchrony | cross-scale interactions S ynchronized fluctuations in abundance among spatially segregated populations are common in nature and can be used to quantify and understand the distribution of abundance in space and time (1). Synchrony can be induced by local intrinsic processes such as dispersal among populations and strong interactions with mobile predators or regional extrinsic processes such as spatially correlated environmental variability (1). Although these processes are well known, identifying their relative contribution to patterns of synchrony remains a challenge (1). Recent work has shown that when the processes that contribute to synchrony can be studied in isolation, be it via natural barriers to dispersal among populations (2, 3) or experimental manipulation (4), synchrony patterns can be ascribed to their underlying cause. However, when intrinsic and extrinsic causes of synchrony co-occur, as is the case in most systems, assigning synchrony patterns to any specific causal process becomes onerous (1). Here, we show that in marine populations experiencing both intrinsic and extrinsic sources of synchrony, the shape of spatial synchrony patterns can be used to infer the cause of synchrony and explain the regional distribution of abundance.Marine population theory has relied mostly on the environment to explain the regional (>1,000 km) dynamics of populations. This focus is motivated by the lengthy pelagic larval stage commonly found in marine organisms, during which the larvae can be transported over large distances by strong nearshore currents (5). The potential fo...

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“…This attention has primarily focused on individual organisms, particularly the very abundant (e.g., pests) or the very rare (e.g., threatened and endangered), or on community-level analyses assessing impacts on biodiversity. Studies have rarely considered impacts on interactions involving multiple trophic levels (Davis et al 1998;Janson et al 2009;Six 2009). In particular, very little attention has been given to effects of anthropogenic change on mutualisms, despite the fact that these symbioses are among the most important drivers of ecosystem function, structure, and process (Boucher et al 1982;Margulis and Fester 1991;Douglas 1994;Maynard Smith and Szathmary 1995;Del-Claro and Torezan-Silingardi 2009;Kiers et al 2010), and alterations in their composition and outcomes are likely to ramify throughout affected systems (Six 2009;Kiers et al 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anthropogenic effects on interaction outcomes: examples from insect-microbial symbioses in forest and savanna ecosystems

et al. 2011

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The influence of humans on ecosystem dynamics has been, and continues to be, profound. Anthropogenic effects are expected to amplify as human populations continue to increase. Concern over these effects has given rise to a large number of studies focusing on impacts of human activities on individual species or on biotic community structure and composition. Lacking are studies on interactions, particularly mutualisms. Because of the role of mutualisms in ecosystem stability, such studies are critically needed if we are to begin to better understand and predict the responses of ecosystems to anthropogenic change. Most organisms are involved in at least one mutualism, and many in several. Mutualisms facilitate the ability of partners to exploit particular habitats and resources, and play a large role in determining ecological boundaries. When change disrupts, enhances, or introduces new organisms into a mutualism, the outcome and stability of the original partnership(s) is altered as are effects of the symbiosis on the community and ecosystem as a whole. In this paper, using examples from six microbe-insect mutualisms in forest and savanna settings, we showcase how varied and complex the responses of mutualisms can be to an equally varied set of anthropogenic influences. We also show how alterations of mutualisms may ramify throughout affected systems. We stress that researchers must be cognizant that many observed changes in the behaviors, abundances, and distributions of organisms due to human activities are likely to be mediated by mutualists which may alter predictions and actual outcomes in significant ways.

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Individualistic species responses invalidate simple physiological models of community dynamics under global environmental change

Cited by 267 publications

References 50 publications

Richness and species composition of arboreal arthropods affected by nutrients and predators: a press experiment

Richness and species composition of arboreal arthropods affected by nutrients and predators: a press experiment

Ecological processes can synchronize marine population dynamics over continental scales

Anthropogenic effects on interaction outcomes: examples from insect-microbial symbioses in forest and savanna ecosystems

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