Temporal rarity is a better predictor of local extinction risk than spatial rarity

Wilfahrt, Peter A.; Asmus, Ashley L.; Seabloom, Eric W.; Henning, Jeremiah A.; Adler, Peter B.; Arnillas, Carlos Alberto; Bakker, Jonathan D.; Biederman, Lori A.; Brudvig, Lars A.; Cadotte, Marc W.; Daleo, Pedro; Eskelinen, Anu; Firn, Jennifer; Harpole, W. Stanley; Hautier, Yann; Kirkman, Kevin; Komatsu, Kimberly J.; Laungani, Ramesh; MacDougall, Andrew S.; McCulley, Rebecca L.; Moore, Joslin L.; Morgan, John; Mortensen, Brent; Hueso, Raul Ochoa; Ohlert, Timothy; Power, Sally A.; Price, Jodi N.; Risch, Anita C.; Schuetz, Martin; Shoemaker, Lauren G.; Strauss, Alexander T.; Tognetti, Pedro M.; Virtanen, Risto; Borer, Elizabeth T.

doi:10.1002/ecy.3504

Cited by 17 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Our results demonstrate that novel ecological insights can be generated by examining compositional variation using multiple metrics (Chao et al, 2014). Together, abundance‐ and incidence‐based metrics provide insight into whether dominant or rare species are driving changes (see also Wilfahrt et al, 2021). Most sites exhibited larger Bray–Curtis than Sorensen dissimilarities and larger balanced variation than species turnover, suggesting that compositional variation was more strongly related to changes in the relative abundance of extant species than to species extinctions or to colonization by new species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Compositional variation in grassland plant communities

et al. 2023

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Human activities are altering ecological communities around the globe. Understanding the implications of these changes requires that we consider the composition of those communities. However, composition can be summarized by many metrics which in turn are influenced by different ecological processes. For example, incidence‐based metrics strongly reflect species gains or losses, while abundance‐based metrics are minimally affected by changes in the abundance of small or uncommon species. Furthermore, metrics might be correlated with different predictors. We used a globally distributed experiment to examine variation in species composition within 60 grasslands on six continents. Each site had an identical experimental and sampling design: 24 plots × 4 years. We expressed compositional variation within each site—not across sites—using abundance‐ and incidence‐based metrics of the magnitude of dissimilarity (Bray–Curtis and Sorensen, respectively), abundance‐ and incidence‐based measures of the relative importance of replacement (balanced variation and species turnover, respectively), and species richness at two scales (per plot‐year [alpha] and per site [gamma]). Average compositional variation among all plot‐years at a site was high and similar to spatial variation among plots in the pretreatment year, but lower among years in untreated plots. For both types of metrics, most variation was due to replacement rather than nestedness. Differences among sites in overall within‐site compositional variation were related to several predictors. Environmental heterogeneity (expressed as the CV of total aboveground plant biomass in unfertilized plots of the site) was an important predictor for most metrics. Biomass production was a predictor of species turnover and of alpha diversity but not of other metrics. Continentality (measured as annual temperature range) was a strong predictor of Sorensen dissimilarity. Metrics of compositional variation are moderately correlated: knowing the magnitude of dissimilarity at a site provides little insight into whether the variation is driven by replacement processes. Overall, our understanding of compositional variation at a site is enhanced by considering multiple metrics simultaneously. Monitoring programs that explicitly incorporate these implications, both when designing sampling strategies and analyzing data, will have a stronger ability to understand the compositional variation of systems and to quantify the impacts of human activities.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Compositional variation in grassland plant communities

et al. 2023

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“…The immediate and long‐term changes in resources, and abiotic and biotic conditions with disturbance regimes may result in changes in the abundance, diversity, and composition of plant communities (Franklin et al., 2016). Spatially explicit definitions of rarity based on abundance and distribution neglect the temporal component of rarity (Wilfahrt et al., 2021). Species may be temporarily rare in response to disturbance or change in their rarity through time due to stochastic environmental changes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rare plant species occurrence patterns are associated not with soil properties, but with frequent fire in a southeast Australian dry sclerophyll forest

Sritharan,

Bowd,

Scheele

et al. 2023

J Vegetation Science

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QuestionSoil properties can play a crucial role in influencing the abundance and distribution of plant species. Fire regimes can also have substantial impacts on plant community composition. However, few studies have examined the effects of both fire regimes and soil properties on the occurrence of rare plant species. Here, we asked if rare species have specific soil and fire regime associations relative to common species, and if soil properties may explain potential fire effects.LocationBooderee National Park, southeastern Australia.MethodsWe collected soil cores and completed vegetation surveys on 42 sites in Sydney Coastal Dry Sclerophyll Forest vegetation. We tested for associations between the number of rare species and common species present in relation to three soil chemical properties (available phosphorus, ammonium and organic carbon), fire frequency, and time since fire.ResultsWe found that rare and common species were not associated with any of the examined soil properties. However, rare species were associated with sites with a high fire frequency, while common species were negatively associated with time since fire.ConclusionsOur results indicate that rare species’ occurrence patterns may be influenced by the direct effects of fire or mediated by multiple factors, rather than shaped solely by soil properties in our study area. Future work to understand the factors that underpin rare species’ occurrence patterns in response to fire is critical to develop fire management protocols that effectively conserve rare species in dry sclerophyll forests.

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“…Additional mechanisms driving patterns within and across sites (Figure S11) (Avolio et al, 2021), spatial scales (Barry et al, 2021; Chase et al, 2019; Seabloom et al, 2021) and according to species' functional identities and characteristics (Crawford et al, 2021) could also be further investigated. We now know that the risk of a species being lost from a plot decreases with its abundance and varies across functional forms (Wilfahrt et al, 2021). The degree to which these species' characteristics (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking changes in species composition and biomass in a globally distributed grassland experiment

et al. 2022

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Global change drivers, such as anthropogenic nutrient inputs, are increasing globally. Nutrient deposition simultaneously alters plant biodiversity, species composition and ecosystem processes like aboveground biomass production. These changes are underpinned by species extinction, colonisation and shifting relative abundance. Here, we use the Price equation to quantify and link the contributions of species that are lost, gained or that persist to change in aboveground biomass in 59 experimental grassland sites. Under ambient (control) conditions, compositional and biomass turnover was high, and losses (i.e. local extinctions) were balanced by gains (i.e. colonisation). Under fertilisation, the decline in species richness resulted from increased species loss and decreases in species gained. Biomass increase under fertilisation resulted mostly from species that persist and to a lesser extent from species gained. Drivers of ecological change can interact relatively independently with diversity, composition and ecosystem processes and functions such as aboveground biomass due to the individual contributions of species lost, gained or persisting.

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Temporal rarity is a better predictor of local extinction risk than spatial rarity

Cited by 17 publications

References 55 publications

Compositional variation in grassland plant communities

Compositional variation in grassland plant communities

Rare plant species occurrence patterns are associated not with soil properties, but with frequent fire in a southeast Australian dry sclerophyll forest

Linking changes in species composition and biomass in a globally distributed grassland experiment

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