The terminology of metacommunity ecology

Winegardner, Amanda K.; Jones, Brittany K.; Ng, Ingrid S. Y.; Siqueira, Tadeu; Cottenie, Karl

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2012.01.007

Cited by 184 publications

(176 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Substrate composition, depth and flow velocity are the more important filters driving among-riffle variation on the fish assemblage structure. These factors explained a very high variation in the fish abundance and trophic structure, which is consistent with the species sorting with efficient dispersal mechanism (sensu Winegardner et al, 2012). This model assumes strong environmental control on local species composition and that species have sufficient dispersal capacity to reach all local communities (Leibold et al, 2004), which is expected for habitats within a single stream, as in our case.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Environmental constraints structuring fish assemblages in riffles: evidences from a tropical stream

et al. 2016

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Riffles are unique habitats regarding to assemblage structure. However, understanding how these assemblages respond to environmental variations in small spatial extents, as within a stream, is a challenge. We assess whether the quantitative structure and the trophic composition of fish assemblages vary predictably among stream riffles. We predict that the variation of environmental conditions will explain species abundance and trophic composition, with the latter presenting higher predictive power, since species would be filtered according to their traits (e.g. diet). Moreover, we expect that the low among-riffle dispersal limitation within a stream and the strong habitat filtering would result in lower importance of spatial variables in the structure of riffle fish assemblages. We tested these predictions by studying 18 riffles of a stream in the Central Brazil. Environmental variables, but not spatial ones, were the most important in explaining the variation in assemblages structure. Environmental variables explained a greater portion of the trophic structure variation (R 2 = 0.62) than of abundance (R 2 =0.37), indicating that the variation on the trophic traits at community level are more predictable. These results also indicate that these assemblages are subject to environmental control, highlighting the importance of riffle characteristics in driving ecological processes within streams.Corredeiras são habitats singulares no que se refere à estrutura das suas assembleias. Entretanto, a compreensão sobre como essas assembleias respondem às variações ambientais em pequenas extensões espaciais, como dentro de um riacho, ainda é um desafio. Avaliamos se a estrutura quantitativa das assembleias de peixes, assim como a sua composição trófica variam previsivelmente entre corredeiras de riachos. Predizemos que a variação nas condições ambientais explicará a abundância das espécies, assim como a sua composição trófica, entretanto, com uma maior proporção da variação explicada para a segunda, já que as espécies seriam filtradas de acordo com seus atributos (e.g. dieta). Além disso, esperamos que a pequena limitação para a dispersão entre as corredeiras de um mesmo riacho, associada à forte filtragem ambiental, resultaria em uma menor importância de variáveis espaciais na estruturação das assembleias de corredeiras. Para testar essas predições, estudamos 18 corredeiras de um rio do Brasil Central. As variáveis ambientais, e não as espaciais, foram mais importantes para explicar a variação na estrutura das assembleias. As variáveis ambientais explicaram uma maior proporção da variação da composição trófica (R 2 =0,62), em comparação com a abundância (R 2 =0,37), indicando maior previsibilidade na variação dos atributos relacionados a dieta em nível de comunidade. Esses resultados também indicam que essas assembleias são sujeitas a forte controle ambiental, destacando a importância das características desses habitats nos processos ecológicos dentro dos riachos.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Environmental constraints structuring fish assemblages in riffles: evidences from a tropical stream

et al. 2016

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“…To understand spatial variation in community structure, it has been suggested that the amount of dispersal between communities within a metacommunity can be used to differentiate between the relative importance of the patch-dynamic (limited dispersal; colonization-competition trade-offs drive community patterns), species sorting (efficient dispersal allows species to track variation in environmental conditions) and mass effect (high dispersal, promoting higher diversity even in suboptimal conditions) models [31] (figure 2). In marine systems across natural and anthropogenic environmental gradients, dispersal will allow species to track environmental variation in space, and thus the importance of species sorting for metacommunity organization is apparently high [32].…”

Section: Knowledge Gap Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Post-settlement dispersal: the neglected link in maintenance of soft-sediment biodiversity

et al. 2015

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Seafloor integrity is threatened by disturbances owing to human activities. The capacity of the system to recover from disturbances, as well as maintain resilience and function, depends on dispersal. In soft-sediment systems, dispersal continues after larval settlement, but there are very few measurements of how far the post-settlers disperse in nature. Spatial scales of post-settlement dispersal are, however, likely to be similar to pelagic larval dispersal because of continued, frequent, small-scale dispersal over longer periods. The consequences of this dispersal may be more important for the maintenance of biodiversity and metacommunity dynamics than is pelagic larval dispersal, because of the greater size and competency of the dispersers. We argue that an increased empirical understanding of post-settlement dispersal processes is key for predicting how benthic communities will respond to local disturbances and shrinking regional species pools, with implications for monitoring, managing and conserving biodiversity.

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“…dispersal related) and local (i.e. niche related) processes" (Logue et al 2011, Winegardner et al 2012). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scaling fish metacommunities in stream networks: synthesis and future research avenues

Erős

2017

Community Ecology

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Abstract:The metacommunity perspective has substantially advanced our understanding of how local (within community) and dispersal (between community) processes influence the assembly of communities. The increased recognition of dispersal processes makes it necessary to re-evaluate former views on community organization in different ecological systems and for specific organisms. Stream systems have long been considered from a linear perspective, in which local community organization was examined along the longitudinal profile, from source to mouth. However, the hierarchically branching (i.e. dendritic) structure of stream networks also significantly affects both local and regional scale community organization, which has just only recently been fully recognized by ecologists. In this review, I examine how the shift from a strictly linear to a dendritic network perspective influenced the thinking about the organization of fish metacommunities in stream networks. I argue that while longitudinal patterns in the structure of fish communities are relatively well known, knowledge is still limited about how the structure of the stream network ultimately affects the spatial and temporal dynamics of metacommunities. I suggest that scaling metapopulation models up to the metacommunity level can be useful to further our understanding of the spatial structure of metacommunities. However, this requires the delineation of local communities and the quantification of the contribution of dispersal to local community dynamics. Exploring patterns in diversity, spatial distribution and temporal dynamics of metacommunities is not easily feasible in continuous stream habitats, where some parts of the habitat network are exceptionally hard to sample representatively. Combination of detailed field studies with modelling of dispersal is necessary for a better understanding of metacommunity dynamics in stream networks. Since most metacommunity level processes are likely to happen at the stream network level, further research on the effects of stream network structure is needed. Overall, separation of the effect of dispersal processes from local scale community dynamics may yield a more mechanistic understanding of the assembly of fish communities in stream networks, which may also enhance the effectiveness of restoration efforts.

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The terminology of metacommunity ecology

Cited by 184 publications

References 8 publications

Environmental constraints structuring fish assemblages in riffles: evidences from a tropical stream

Environmental constraints structuring fish assemblages in riffles: evidences from a tropical stream

Post-settlement dispersal: the neglected link in maintenance of soft-sediment biodiversity

Scaling fish metacommunities in stream networks: synthesis and future research avenues

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