Multi‐scale patterns in co‐occurrence of rocky inter‐tidal gastropods along the west coast of India

Abstract

Over the last fi ve decades, inter-tidal ecology has evolved from being a purely descriptive science to using quantitative and experimental approaches to understand community structure. However, this has sometimes come at the cost of understanding generality since many studies have focused on local spatial scales and patch dynamics. Th is study aimed to assess the generality of co-occurrence patterns at a large spatial scale, covering over 1000 km, by comparing empirical association patterns with random patterns generated by simulations. Species co-occurrence patterns are useful to examine the role of abiotic and biotic factors in community assembly. Our results show non-random patterns of species association at large spatial scales, mainly refl ecting increasing community similarity with decreasing geographical distance, although random patterns of species association were found at the smallest spatial scales. Negative associations between species dominated the association pattern when all species pairs were considered, but most of the signifi cant associations were positive. Th ere was low congruence of association strengths of the same species-pairs in diff erent clusters, indicating that associations are likely to be contingent on local conditions. Finally, association strength of con-familial species pairs was found to be higher than species belonging to diff erent families, probably refl ecting habitat fi ltering. Th is study emphasizes the role and importance of examining general patterns and of using a combination of experimental and observational studies to gain insights at multiple scales.

A new integrative framework for large‐scale assessments of biodiversity and community dynamics, using littoral gastropods and crabs of British Columbia, Canada

“…Patterns can be investigated for the community as a whole (Gotelli ) or for a smaller species set with respect to various biological traits (e.g., trophic position, Meyer & Kalko ; body size, Gotelli & McCabe ) or habitat characteristics (e.g., spatial scales, Puri et al . ; disturbance levels, Ulrich et al . ).…”

Complex metacommunity structure for benthic invertebrates in a low‐diversity coastal system

“…It is unclear, however, to what extent spatial patterns across larger regions reflect these expected patterns in the degree of species co‐occurrence (Puri et al. ). Given the relatively more open nature of these systems, idealized patterns in marine metacommunity structure may occur less frequently.…”

“…Interspecific and intraspecific competition has been widely reported in marine systems, for example, between barnacles (Connell 1961) or between filter-feeding bivalves (Peterson and Andre 1980), and this knowledge has advanced ecological understanding of within-community interactions (Menge and Sutherland 1976;Wilson 1991). It is unclear, however, to what extent spatial patterns across larger regions reflect these expected patterns in the degree of species co-occurrence (Puri et al 2013). Given the relatively more open nature of these systems, idealized patterns in marine metacommunity structure may occur less frequently.…”

Changes in biodiversity and species associations along a latitudinal gradient

“…An association is segregated when species occur together less often than expected by chance. A neutral association occurs when species co-occurrence cannot be defined as segregated or aggregated (Puri et al 2014). In this study, we apply this technique to evaluate whether there are regional differences in species associations on opposite sides of a biogeographic boundary, with a particular focus on whether narrow-range endemic and widespread species differ in their associations.…”