Metacommunity Dynamics Over 16 Years in a Pyrogenic Shrubland

Miller, Timothy J.; Quintana‐Ascencio, Pedro F.; Maliakal-Witt, Satya; Menges, Eric S.

doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2011.01807.x

Cited by 18 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…The more stable demography of L. ohlingerae, compared with other species in the same ecosystem (Quintana-Ascencio, Menges & Weekley 2003;Menges & Quintana-Ascencio 2004), supports our first hypothesis. The moderate effect of time-since-fire on L. ohlingerae population growth rates is reinforced by the occurrence of this species in Florida rosemary patches with different times-since-fire (Miller et al 2012). The relatively smaller effect of fire on L. ohlingerae, in comparison with other endemic herbs in the same system (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…The moderate effect of time‐since‐fire on L. ohlingerae population growth rates is reinforced by the occurrence of this species in Florida rosemary patches with different times‐since‐fire (Miller et al . ). The relatively smaller effect of fire on L. ohlingerae, in comparison with other endemic herbs in the same system (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…However, the occurrence of L. ohlingerae was slightly higher in patches with larger time since fire (Miller et al . ), and it is not a gap specialist species (Menges et al . ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Potential positive effects of fire are likely related to the maintenance of gaps and reduction of competition (Hawkes & Menges 1996;Menges et al 2008). However, the occurrence of L. ohlingerae was slightly higher in patches with larger time since fire (Miller et al 2012), and it is not a gap specialist species . Interactions between herbivory (mostly by white-tailed deer), time since fire (TSF hereafter) and roads affect L. ohlingerae, with reported higher rates of herbivory occurring in recently burned and non-roadside habitats (Kettenring, Weekley & Menges 2009).…”

Section: S T U D Y S I T E a N D N A T U R A L H I S T O R Ymentioning

confidence: 97%

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A demographic ménage à trois: interactions between disturbances both amplify and dampen population dynamics of an endemic plant

et al. 2016

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Summary Natural and anthropogenic disturbances co‐occur in most systems, but how they interact to shape demographic outcomes remains poorly understood. Such interactions may alter dynamics of populations in non‐additive ways, making demographic predictions challenging when focusing on only one disturbance. Thus, understanding the interactive effects of such disturbances is critically important to determine the population viability of most species under a diversity of stressors. We used a hierarchical integral projection model (IPM), parameterized with 13 years of field data across 20 populations, encompassing 2435 individuals of an endangered herb, Liatris ohlingerae. We examined interactive effects of vertebrate herbivory, fire and anthropogenic activities (sand roads) on vital rates (e.g. survival, growth, reproduction, recruitment) and ultimately on population growth rates (λ), to test the hypothesis that interactions amplify or dampen differences in λ depending on environmental contexts. We constructed megamatrices to determine coupled dynamics in individuals damaged vs. not damaged by herbivores in roadsides and in Florida scrub with different times since fire. We identified strong interactive effects of fire with herbivory and habitat with herbivory on vital rates and on population growth rates in the IPM model. We also found different patterns of variation in λ between habitat and time‐since‐fire scenarios; population growth rates were higher in roadside populations compared to scrub populations and declined with increasing time since fire. Herbivory had interactive effects with both fire and human disturbances on λ. Herbivory resulted in decreased differences in λ due to anthropogenic disturbance and slightly increased differences in λ due to time since fire. Synthesis. The co‐occurrence of various disturbances may both amplify and dampen the effects of other disturbances on population growth rate, thus shaping complex population dynamics that are neither linear nor additive. These realistic nonlinearities represent challenges in understanding and projecting of population dynamics. Here, we examined the effects of various sources of disturbance on the population dynamics of an endangered plant species, finding complex interactions affecting population growth rates. We argue that integration of multiple, interacting stressors in IPMs will allow more accurate estimation of the overall effects of ecological processes on species viability.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…However, the occurrence of L. ohlingerae was slightly higher in patches with larger time since fire (Miller et al . ), and it is not a gap specialist species (Menges et al . ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: S T U D Y S I T E a N D N A T U R A L H I S T O R Ymentioning

confidence: 97%

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A demographic ménage à trois: interactions between disturbances both amplify and dampen population dynamics of an endemic plant

et al. 2016

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“…In the case of climbing plants, their variation throughout the landscape has also been found to be influenced by the presence of canopy gaps (e.g., Ibarra‐Manriquez & Martínez‐Ramos, ; Malizia & Grau, ; Schnitzer & Bongers, ). Thus, different assemblages may respond differentially to the size and quality of the fragment, which is associated with different rates of extinction and colonization according to the particular life history of the species (Cagnolo, Valladares, Salvo, Cabido, & Zak, ; Collins, Holt, & Foster, ; Ewers & Didham, ; Miller, Quintana‐Ascencio, Maliakal‐Witt, & Menges, ; Prevedello & Vieira, ; Saldaña, Parra, Flores‐Bavestrello, Corcuera, & Bravo, ; Woda et al., ), as evidenced in our study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consequences of swamp forest fragmentation on assemblages of vascular epiphytes and climbing plants: Evaluation of the metacommunity structure

Pincheira‐Ulbrich

Hernández

Saldaña

2018

Ecology and Evolution

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AimHabitat reduction in fragmented landscapes provides an opportunity to study the biogeographic patterns that drive changes in diversity in poorly studied metacommunities. In this study, colonization–extinction dynamics were indirectly evaluated through the analysis of the species–area relationship and the nestedness of vascular epiphytes and climbing plants in 30 swamp forest fragments.LocationCoast of the Araucanía Region in Chile.TaxonVascular epiphytes (16 species, mainly Pteridophytes) and climbing plants (15 species).MethodsWe used the database in Pincheira‐Ulbrich et al. (New Zealand Journal of Botany, 54, 2016, 458), where 904 trees were sampled and a total abundance of 41,097 fern fronds and 3,098 climbing stems were reported. For the species–area relationship, a simple linear regression model (SLR) and two models that consider the spatial autocorrelation of species richness among fragments, generalized least squares (GLS) and simultaneous autoregressive model (SAR), were compared. For the species nestedness, the nestedness measure based on overlap and decreasing fills (NODF) and weighted nestedness metric based on overlap and decreasing fill (WNODF) indexes were used on presence–absence and abundance matrices, respectively. These matrices were sorted by area size and distance from the largest fragment and then contrasted with the probability distribution of a randomized null model based on 10,000 simulations.ResultsThe results showed that the area size had a significantly positive effect on epiphyte species richness, while spatial autocorrelation played a fundamental role in explaining the richness of climbing plants. Both metacommunities had a general nestedness structure in terms of species incidence, which was determined first by area size and secondly by isolation.Main conclusionsOur results indicate that local colonization processes determined by species’ dispersal capacities could be the predominant mechanism for the spatial configuration of climbing plant species composition. On the other hand, selective extinction determined by patch size could characterize the spatial structure of epiphyte species’ composition.

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Mapping spatially explicit vegetation gaps in Florida rosemary scrub using unmanned aerial vehicles

2021

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Advances in remote sensing technologies offer new means to monitor habitats of importance on large scales. Florida rosemary scrub is one such threatened habitat, found in patches across the landscape in relatively elevated areas, and is often characterized by shrub‐less areas (gaps) among the dominant shrubs, which provide favorable microhabitats for many endemic and endangered plants and animals. However, gaps are difficult and time‐consuming to characterize, especially across large areas, using traditional ground‐based field methods. We developed and tested a method for rapidly classifying gaps using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV or drone). Aerial data were collected by a UAV‐mounted camera in April 2018, and stratified, random ground surveys to verify UAV data were conducted March through April 2018 at Archbold Biological Station in south‐central Florida, USA. We used mosaicked and georeferenced digital surface and terrain models to calculate vegetation height across 33 rosemary scrub sites (~230,000 m2 at 0.064 m2 pixel resolution). Gaps were defined as >1 m2 areas where vegetation height was <10 cm. We found that gap areas from UAV models and field surveys were significantly correlated across varying gap sizes, times‐since‐fire, and relative elevations. We also observed a significant decrease in mean gap area and percent gap space with increasing time‐since‐fire, a pattern consistent with smaller‐scale, ground‐based sampling, and a marginally significant increase in gap area with relative elevation. This remote sensing method lends itself to better exploration of how gap areas, their spatiotemporal patterns, and associated fire history, elevation, soil, and other geographic data affect structural vegetation dynamics across the landscape. This study illustrates the success of UAV modeling of gap space in Florida rosemary scrub, a result of regional consequence for the southeastern United States, but more broadly, it encourages the use of UAV technology as a tool to enhance traditional field‐based methods in systems globally. As habitat fragmentation and loss become increasingly problematic for the conservation of threatened habitats, understanding these complex spatial dynamics is crucial to the conservation and management of vegetation communities and their biodiversity.

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Metacommunity Dynamics Over 16 Years in a Pyrogenic Shrubland

Cited by 18 publications

References 46 publications

A demographic ménage à trois: interactions between disturbances both amplify and dampen population dynamics of an endemic plant

A demographic ménage à trois: interactions between disturbances both amplify and dampen population dynamics of an endemic plant

Consequences of swamp forest fragmentation on assemblages of vascular epiphytes and climbing plants: Evaluation of the metacommunity structure

Mapping spatially explicit vegetation gaps in Florida rosemary scrub using unmanned aerial vehicles

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