Testing the keystone community concept: effects of landscape, patch removal, and environment on metacommunity structure

Resetarits, Emlyn J.; Cathey, Sara E.; Leibold, Mathew A.

doi:10.1002/ecy.2041

Cited by 14 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 46 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Having different dispersal rates coupled with the disturbance gradient would have made for a powerful study; however, the logistical constraints of such an experiment are beyond what many research groups can manage, unless downsized to smaller taxa like microbes (Resetarits et al. ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, a lower dispersal rate would have likely resulted in lower local and regional biodiversity in the heterogeneous metacommunities, because pelagic species populations in disturbed communities would have probably been harder to maintain without a large, constant supply of colonists. Having different dispersal rates coupled with the disturbance gradient would have made for a powerful study; however, the logistical constraints of such an experiment are beyond what many research groups can manage, unless downsized to smaller taxa like microbes (Resetarits et al 2018).…”

Section: Effects Of Disturbance Intensity On Species Composition and mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Dispersal mitigates biologically induced disturbances in heterogeneous metacommunities

Mausbach

Dzialowski

2019

Ecosphere

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The global increase in anthropogenic disturbances has introduced patterns of heterogeneity across many landscapes. Local disturbances are often studied from the perspective of the local habitat patch, where their direct effects on local community composition are more evident. However, local disturbances can have regional implications when connected to other patches within a metacommunity. Invasive species provide a unique opportunity for studying the influence of biologically induced disturbances on metacommunity dynamics, because invasive species are influential in structuring local communities and have a propensity for dispersing across landscapes, producing gradients in disturbance intensity. The invasive zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, is widespread throughout the eastern USA and is having negative impacts on native communities. Using zebra mussels to induce disturbances in mesocosm zooplankton communities, we tested how the relative abundance of disturbed and undisturbed habitat patches within a metacommunity influenced community and metacommunity biodiversity and composition. The zebra mussels negatively affected pelagic zooplankton species richness, while facilitating the population growth of littoral species. Undisturbed communities mitigated disturbance‐induced local and regional pelagic species loss in heterogeneous metacommunities, while the fully disturbed metacommunity experienced significant losses of pelagic zooplankton at local and regional scales. Disturbed communities influenced undisturbed communities in heterogeneous metacommunities by increasing the densities of littoral zooplankton species. Overall, these results highlight the important effects that undisturbed habitat patches can have on mitigating species loss in locally disturbed patches and maintaining regional biodiversity in heterogeneous metacommunities.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Effects Of Disturbance Intensity On Species Composition and mentioning

confidence: 99%

Dispersal mitigates biologically induced disturbances in heterogeneous metacommunities

Mausbach

Dzialowski

2019

Ecosphere

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In addition, the global biomass of protists has been estimated to be double that of the animal kingdom (Bar‐On et al ), highlighting their ecological relevance. The short generation times of the species used means that multi‐generational data can be rapidly collected, making the system ideally suited for studies on population biology (Lawler & Morin ; Hammill et al ), community ecology (Clements et al ; Carrara et al ), metacommunity dynamics (Holyoak & Lawler ; Resetarits et al ), biodiversity–ecosystem function experiments (DeLong & Gibert ), and conservation issues (Fryxell et al ; Benton et al ). The protist system can also contain complex food webs, consisting of up to four trophic levels that incorporate omnivory and specialisation (Forbes & Hammill , Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Imperfect detection alters the outcome of management strategies for protected areas

Hammill

Clements

2020

Ecology Letters

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Designing protected area configurations to maximise biodiversity is a critical conservation goal. The configuration of protected areas can significantly impact the richness and identity of the species found there; one large patch supports larger populations but can facilitate competitive exclusion. Conversely, many small habitats spreads risk but may exclude predators that typically require large home ranges. Identifying how best to design protected areas is further complicated by monitoring programs failing to detect species. Here we test the consequences of different protected area configurations using multi‐trophic level experimental microcosms. We demonstrate that for a given total size, many small patches generate higher species richness, are more likely to contain predators, and have fewer extinctions compared to single large patches. However, the relationship between the size, number of patches, and species richness was greatly affected by insufficient monitoring, and could lead to incorrect conservation decisions, especially for higher trophic levels.

show abstract

“…Fox et al, 2017) and metacommunity (e.g. Resetarits, Cathey, & Leibold, 2018) dynamics are increasingly common. Just as prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbial organisms share an abundance of genetic, reproductive, and metabolic similarities with macroscopic organisms, they likewise share many movement-related characteristics (Jessup et al, 2005).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Metapopulation Microcosm Plate: A modified 96‐well plate for use in microbial metapopulation experiments

Kurkjian

2018

Methods Ecol Evol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Researchers in many subfields of ecology and evolutionary biology test hypotheses relating to metapopulation dynamics and landscape spatial structure. Key aspects of these hypotheses are often (a) large numbers of subpopulations and dispersal corridors and (b) their positions relative to each other. Testing such spatial hypotheses using traditional laboratory equipment and methods can be impractical, unwieldy, expensive, or impossible. The Metapopulation Microcosm Plate (MMP) overcomes many of these difficulties. This device resembles a 96‐well microtitre plate, but contains dispersal corridors between wells that can be modified in their spatial position to create various artificial landscapes, each with up to 96 habitat patches and hundreds of nonintersecting dispersal corridors of varying lengths. The device can be filled with nutrient broth and used to culture microbial metapopulations. Here, I describe how MMPs are designed, assembled, sterilized, and filled and demonstrate that MMPs can remain water tight and sterile with minimal evaporation for 5–7 days. Metapopulation Microcosm Plates (MMPs) can be used to test many spatial hypotheses that have previously been prohibitively difficult to test. Further, by allowing individual behavioural responses to within‐patch conditions, MMPs can incorporate greater realism than directed pipetting or other artificial dispersal methods.

show abstract

Testing the keystone community concept: effects of landscape, patch removal, and environment on metacommunity structure

Cited by 14 publications

References 46 publications

Dispersal mitigates biologically induced disturbances in heterogeneous metacommunities

Dispersal mitigates biologically induced disturbances in heterogeneous metacommunities

Imperfect detection alters the outcome of management strategies for protected areas

The Metapopulation Microcosm Plate: A modified 96‐well plate for use in microbial metapopulation experiments

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About