TY - JOUR
T1 - Testing the independent species' arrangement assertion made by theories of stochastic geometry of biodiversity
AU - Wiegand, Thorsten
AU - Huth, Andreas
AU - Getzin, Stephan
AU - Wang, Xugao
AU - Hao, Zhanqing
AU - Savitri Gunatilleke, C. V.
AU - Nimal Gunatilleke, I. A.U.
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - The assertion that the spatial location of different species is independent of each other is fundamental in major ecological theories such as neutral theory that describes a stochastic geometry of biodiversity. However, this assertion has rarely been tested. Here we use techniques of spatial point pattern analysis to conduct a comprehensive test of the independence assertion by analysing data from three large forest plots with different species richness: a species-rich tropical forest at Barro Colorado Island (Panama), a tropical forest in Sinharaja (Sri Lanka), and a temperate forest in Changbaishan (China). We hypothesize that stochastic dilution effects owing to increasing species richness overpower signals of species associations, thereby yielding approximate species independence. Indeed, the proportion of species pairs showing: (i) no significant interspecific association increased with species richness, (ii) segregation decreased with species richness, and (iii) small-scale interspecific interaction decreased with species richness. This suggests that independence may indeed be a good approximation in the limit of very species-rich communities. Our findings are a step towards a better understanding of factors governing species-rich communities and we propose a hypothesis to explain why species placement in species-rich communities approximates independence.
AB - The assertion that the spatial location of different species is independent of each other is fundamental in major ecological theories such as neutral theory that describes a stochastic geometry of biodiversity. However, this assertion has rarely been tested. Here we use techniques of spatial point pattern analysis to conduct a comprehensive test of the independence assertion by analysing data from three large forest plots with different species richness: a species-rich tropical forest at Barro Colorado Island (Panama), a tropical forest in Sinharaja (Sri Lanka), and a temperate forest in Changbaishan (China). We hypothesize that stochastic dilution effects owing to increasing species richness overpower signals of species associations, thereby yielding approximate species independence. Indeed, the proportion of species pairs showing: (i) no significant interspecific association increased with species richness, (ii) segregation decreased with species richness, and (iii) small-scale interspecific interaction decreased with species richness. This suggests that independence may indeed be a good approximation in the limit of very species-rich communities. Our findings are a step towards a better understanding of factors governing species-rich communities and we propose a hypothesis to explain why species placement in species-rich communities approximates independence.
KW - Environmental heterogeneity
KW - Forests
KW - Neutral theory
KW - Point pattern analysis
KW - Spatial pattern
KW - Species interactions
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84863874984&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1098/rspb.2012.0376
DO - 10.1098/rspb.2012.0376
M3 - 文章
C2 - 22593112
AN - SCOPUS:84863874984
SN - 0962-8452
VL - 279
SP - 3312
EP - 3320
JO - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
JF - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
IS - 1741
ER -