The confusion between scale‐defined levels and conventional levels of organization in ecology

Allen, Timothy F. H.; Hoekstra, Thomas W.

doi:10.2307/3236048

Cited by 126 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…The change of grain between aggregated and specific resource categories established a basis for delineating between hierarchical levels (Allen & Hoekstra, 1990). The resulting structure of the bird assemblage formed a nested, scalar hierarchy that can be represented as [assemblage[trophic guild[key-resource guild[species]]]] (Salthe, 2002).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We changed the grain of diet observations in order to identify levels in a feeding-defined scalar hierarchy (Allen & Hoekstra, 1990). Food utilization was the primary criteria at both first-order (trophic guilds) and second-order (key-resource guilds) levels: Trophic guilds contained species that share an aggregated resource category and key-resource guild species shared a specific resource category.…”

Section: Guild Membershipmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We refer to the latter group as a key-resource guild. Although hierarchy theory has led to promising developments in community ecology (Kolasa, 1989;Kolasa & Pickett, 1989;Allen & Hoekstra, 1990), to our knowledge, it has not been explicitly applied to guild structure.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Variation in hierarchical guild structure between two bird assemblages of a wetland in the Mexican Pacific

Taylor

Salazar

Enríquez

et al. 2017

RBT

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Neotropical wetlands comprise contrasting habitats with highly diverse avifauna, including herbivores, insectivores and carnivores, of both terrestrial and aquatic species. Therefore, comparisons between wetland bird assemblages based only on species identity may disregard turnover within ecological groups, and eclipse important variations between habitat types. We studied bird assemblages from mangrove and estuary habitat types from a coastal lagoon system in Oaxaca, Mexico. For this, we used 640 point counts to obtain data on bird species using those habitats between October 2009 and May 2012. We ascertained guild structure by classifying 139 species in a scalar hierarchy of two-levels: 17 key-resource guilds nested within seven trophic guilds. To evaluate variation in guild structure between habitat types, we contrasted richness and diversity across trophic guilds and tested for variation in abundance within key-resource guilds. We exposed a tendency of greater diversity within terrestrial guilds in mangrove and within aquatic guilds at the estuary. However, these differences were compensatory and neither richness nor diversity varied between habitat types in comparisons across the sets of trophic guilds. Parallel analyses at two hierarchical levels supported the theoretical prediction of greater change at lower levels. Herpetofauna, wood invertebrates, aquatic invertebrates and seeds emerged as dietary components that may explain the distribution of abundance in key-resource guilds. Although the guilds from mangrove and estuary produced comparable sets of richness and diversity values, the actual identity of guilds with high values varied between habitats. On the other hand, species abundance comparisons within guilds pinpointed specific associations with habitat types and this method represents a suitable strategy for identifying habitat preferences in complex wetland bird assemblages. Rev. Biol. Trop. 65 (4): 1540-1553. Epub 2017 December 01.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Guild Membershipmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Variation in hierarchical guild structure between two bird assemblages of a wetland in the Mexican Pacific

Taylor

Salazar

Enríquez

et al. 2017

RBT

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“…So, we open the possibility for adapting the choice and definition of levels to the specificities of the systems to which the framework is applied. Also, we acknowledge that the highest conventional biological levels can be defined at any spatial and temporal scale (Allen and Hoekstra, 1990). Ecosystems for example can be as small as a drop of water or as incommensurable as an ocean (O'Neill, 1986).…”

Section: Framework Definitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Operational Framework for the Advancement of a Molecule-to-Biosphere Stoichiometry Theory

et al. 2017

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Biological stoichiometry is an approach that focuses on the balance of elements in biological interactions. It is a theory that has the potential to causally link material processes at all biological levels-from molecules to the biosphere. But the lack of a coherent operational framework has so far restricted progress in this direction. Here, we provide a framework to help infer how a stoichiometric imbalance observed at one level impacts all other biological levels. Our framework enables us to highlight the areas of the theory in need of completion, development and integration at all biological levels. Our hope is that this framework will contribute to the building of a more predictive theory of elemental transfers within the biosphere, and thus, to a better understanding of human-induced perturbations to the global biogeochemical cycles.

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“…This wide recognition of the importance of scale has led to a search for an appropriate theoretical framework for studies of spatial scale [1], and specifically to the introduction of the concepts of grain and extent as crucial but separate aspects of spatial scale [18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

River Ecosystem and Floristic Characterization of Riparian Zones at the Youngjeong River, Sacheon-ci, Korea

Huh¹

2017

Journal of Life Science

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This study is examined river naturality and vegetative composition of river riparian zones to identify their most important sources of variation. Information on plant species cover and on physical characteristics that occur at upper, medium, and low areas was collected for 30 riparian plots located throughout the Youngjeong River in Korea. The riparian areas of river banks are dominated by mixed sediment and the vegetation is composed of herbs, shrub, and trees. The floristic characterization of riparian at this river during 2015 season was identified with a total of 28 families, 72 genera, 75 species, 13 varieties, 23 associations. The vegetations of low water's edge and flood way at upper region were naturally formed various vegetation communities by natural erosion. Forty plant species were identified around the upper region, where the dominant growth form was mostly trees. The flood way vegetation at middle region was both of natural vegetation and artificial vegetation. Land uses in riparian zones river levee at low region were bush or grassland as natural floodplain. The values of cover-abundance at upper, middle, and low region were total 9.26, 7.24, and 7.56, respectively. Grasses and forbs at the Youngjeong River have similar cover-abundance values. Recent, many riparian areas of this river have been lost or degraded for commercial and industrial developments. Thus, monitoring for biological diversity of plant species of this river is necessary for an adaptive management approach and the successful implementation of ecosystem management.

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The confusion between scale‐defined levels and conventional levels of organization in ecology

Cited by 126 publications

References 11 publications

Variation in hierarchical guild structure between two bird assemblages of a wetland in the Mexican Pacific

Variation in hierarchical guild structure between two bird assemblages of a wetland in the Mexican Pacific

An Operational Framework for the Advancement of a Molecule-to-Biosphere Stoichiometry Theory

River Ecosystem and Floristic Characterization of Riparian Zones at the Youngjeong River, Sacheon-ci, Korea

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