Linking community and ecosystem dynamics through spatial ecology

Abstract

Classical approaches to food webs focus on patterns and processes occurring at the community level rather than at the broader ecosystem scale, and often ignore spatial aspects of the dynamics. However, recent research suggests that spatial processes influence both food web and ecosystem dynamics, and has led to the idea of ÔmetaecosystemsÕ. However, these processes have been tackled separately by Ôfood web metacommunityÕ ecology, which focuses on the movement of traits, and Ôlandscape ecosystemÕ ecology, which focuses on the movement of materials among ecosystems. Here, we argue that this conceptual gap must be bridged to fully understand ecosystem dynamics because many natural cases demonstrate the existence of interactions between the movements of traits and materials. This unification of concepts can be achieved under the metaecosystem framework, and we present two models that highlight how this framework yields novel insights. We then discuss patches, limiting factors and spatial explicitness as key issues to advance metaecosystem theory. We point out future avenues for research on metaecosystem theory and their potential for application to biological conservation.

Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in dynamic landscapes

“…the difference in species composition between neighbouring sites or the temporal turnover of species composition) to become the major determinant of biodiversity. Compositional turnover and environmental heterogeneity across landscapes are strongly affected by human actions [53,55,56], while also providing the response of biodiversity to absorb present-day and future changes in the environment [57,58]. In this vein, changes in diversity at landscape levels may reduce the capacity of the metacommunity to maintain functionality across different environmental conditions leading to declines in functions with decreasing diversity (figure 3, orange line).…”

“…If successful, functional traits in non-equilibrium conditions are not related to the use of resources and growth, but to colonization and dispersal abilities, or the ability to withstand disturbances. Enhancing the number of species with such traits might not necessarily increase resource use, leading to a larger breadth of potential BEF relationships [55]. Likewise, sequence and priority effects can also restrict diversity effects as species performing certain functions or using a certain aspect of the resource spectrum are not able to enter communities [57].…”

“…Frequent disturbances or fluctuating conditions might prevent strong complementarity effects, as dynamic systems are often transient between assembly and disassembly processes, which are only partly related to resource use traits. The destruction of assembled communities by disturbances precludes the dominance of equilibrium-based mechanisms of coexistence, which will strongly affect biodiversityecosystem functioning relationships [55], because the dominance of species will not only be based on their resource use or effect traits [56], but also by chance, e.g. through priority effects in the colonization sequence [57,58].…”

Returns from matching management resolution to ecological variation in a coral reef fishery

“…These patterns arise from many interwoven spatial processes: different species perceive and respond to the environment over different scales [3]; individuals interact directly with their neighbours as competitors, predators or mutualists [4]; and populations and communities are linked by dispersal [5] and ecosystems through nutrient flows [6]. In managed ecosystems, additional heterogeneity is imposed by spatial patterns in the ways that humans interact with ecosystems.…”

Predator transitory spillover induces trophic cascades in ecological sinks

“…ecosystem regulation | predator distribution | landscape ecology | exploited resources | cross-system management E cological connectivity and spatiotemporal linkages among communities and ecosystems, as well as the interactions between regional and local processes, are fundamental aspects in ecology (1,2) for the understanding of ecosystem functioning on a broader landscape (or metaecosystem) scale (3,4). In particular, cross-habitat fluxes of organisms (mediated by passive transport or active migration) occur between natural habitats and across natural/anthropogenic systems, at various geographical scales (5)(6)(7)(8)(9).…”