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8 results for “niche theory”
Predicting species abundance by implementing the ecological niche theory
<p>Species are not uniformly distributed across the landscape. For every species, there should be few favoured sites where abundance is high and many other sites of lower suitability where abundance is low. Consequently, local abundance could be thought of as a natural expression of species response to local conditions. The correlation between abundance and environmental suitability has been well documented, and a recent meta-analysis has suggested that this relationship could be a generality. Despite the importance and potential implication of the abundance-suitability relationship, its predictive power for meaningful extrapolations has been surprisingly poorly explored. In this study, we showed how a highly predictable trend can be extracted from the abundance-suitability relationship, accurately predicting the variation in species abundance at a high spatial resolution. We produced high-quality environmental suitability estimations for 50 endemic species to the Australian Wet Tropics. Environmental suitability derived from species distribution models was related to observed abundance estimated using data from 29 years of uninterrupted monitoring effort. We used the fitted relationship to accurately predict abundance at a fine scale across the species range. Our results showed that the abundance-suitability relationship was strong for endemic species in the Australian Wet Tropics. The predictive power of our models was high, explaining, on average, 55% of the deviance across taxa. Despite interspecific variation in the strength of the abundance-suitability relationship associated with potential intrinsic estimation biases, our approach provides a powerful tool for predicting abundance across the species range at a fine scale. The potential for robust abundance predictions from occurrence-based species distribution models shown in this study are numerous, and it could have a significant impact in enhancing species conservation and management decisions.</p>
Predicting species abundance by implementing the ecological niche theory
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Data from: Linking niche theory to ecological impacts of successful invaders: insights from resource fluctuation-specialist herbivore interactions
1. Theories of species coexistence and invasion ecology are fundamentally connected and provide a common theoretical framework for studying the mechanisms underlying successful invasions and their ecological impacts. Temporal fluctuations in resource availability and differences in life-history traits between invasive and resident species are considered as likely drivers of the dynamics of invaded communities. Current critical issues in invasion ecology thus relate to the extent to which such mechanisms influence coexistence between invasive and resident species, and to the ability of resident species to persist in an invasive-dominated ecosystem. 2. We tested how a fluctuating resource and species traits differences may explain and help predict long-term impacts of biological invasions in forest specialist insect communities. We used a simple invasion system comprising closely related invasive and resident seed-specialized wasps (Hymenoptera: Torymidae) competing for a well-known fluctuating resource, and displaying divergent diapause, reproductive and phenological traits. 3. Based on extensive long-term field observations (1977-2010), we developed a combination of mechanistic and statistical models aiming to (i) obtain a realistic description of the population dynamics of these interacting species over time, and (ii) clarify the respective contributions of fluctuation-dependent and fluctuation-independent mechanisms to long-term impact of invasion on the population dynamics of the resident wasp species. 4. We showed that a fluctuation-dependent mechanism was unable to promote coexistence of the resident and invasive species. Earlier phenology of the invasive species was the main driver of invasion success, enabling the invader to exploit an empty niche. Phenology also had the greatest power to explain the long-term negative impact of the invasive on the resident species, through resource preemption. 5. This study provides strong support for the critical role of species differences in interspecific competition outcomes within animal communities. Our mechanisticstatistical approach allows disentangling the critical drivers of the dynamics of coexistence and exclusion within novel species assemblages, following both intentional and non-intentional species introductions.
Data from: Niche theory and its relation to morphology and phenotype in geographic space: a case study in woodpeckers (Picidae)
Ecogeographic analyses have recovered common environmental trends with respect to morphology; however discrepancies among trends exist. Hypothesized reasons for these divergences vary, but most relate a taxon's morphology to its ecological niche. Morphology is known to diverge when species co-occur with competitors or predators and when species occur across different habitats and environments. A less understood divergence from ecogeographic trends is niche fixation, wherein species become locked into particular niches due to their community interactions or foraging ecology. A form of niche fixation has been hypothesized in the theory of Interspecies Social Dominance Mimicry (ISDM), in which mimics maintain relatively constant size ratios with models to perpetuate their mimicry. If true, mimics should display variation and trends in tandem with their models. Here, I use mass as a proxy for body size and examine ecogeographic trends in two sets of woodpeckers (Picidae): a Nearctic group which has been reported to interact via ISDM, and a Neotropical group which, based on similar appearances and overlapping distributions, is a potential ISDM system. I found ecogeographic trends suggestive of differential evolutionary responses, and I found evidence against niche fixation in the Nearctic clade. The Neotropic clade showed limited evidence for tandem size evolution between models and mimics, but inconsistencies in the size ratios between mimic and model populations. Here, I discuss the implications of observing divergent ecogeographic trends within mimicry systems, with specific emphasis on how environment, ecology, and community interactions guide evolution.
Using niche centrality within the scope of the nearly neutral theory of evolution to predict genetic diversity in a tropical conifer species-pair
<p><b>Aim:</b> Estimating genetic diversity is key for understanging biogeographic and evolutionary processes. However, gathering genetic information is not feasible for all taxa or populations, particularly in the tropical regions. Identifying proxies for inferring such values has thus become essential. Here, we built on the niche centrality hypothesis (NCH; or central-abundance hypothesis) and the nearly neutral theory of evolution (NNT) to identify some of such proxies using a montane tropical conifer species-pair as model. The NCH predicts more genetic diversity under optimal ecological conditions, which should also allow for more efficient purifying selection, according to the NNT.</p> <p><b>Location:</b> The Transmexican Volcanic Belt, central Mexico.</p> <p><b>Taxa:</b> A fir species-pair endemic to central Mexico,<b> </b><i>Abies flinckii </i>and<i> A. religiosa.</i></p> <p><b>Methods:</b> We estimated patterns of genetic diversity from nuclear SSRs (<i>A</i>, <i>H</i><sub>E</sub>), and gene-coding sequences (<i>π</i><sub>S</sub>, <i>π</i><sub>N</sub>), together with the efficacy of purifying selection, measured as <i>π</i><sub>N</sub>/<i>π</i><sub>S</sub>. After testing for niche overlap, we used several geographic and ecological proxies (i.e. longitude, latitude, elevation, estimated area, and distance to the niche centroid in the present and in the LGM) to predict genetic diversity and <i>π</i><sub>N</sub>/<i>π</i><sub>S</sub> using general linear models.</p> <p><b>Results:</b> Populations at the west of the Trans Mexican Volcanic Belt (TVB) had lower genetic diversity than populations in the east of this mountain chain. Both species had significant niche overlap. The principal predictors for neutral genetic diversity (<i>H</i><sub>E</sub>, <i>A</i> and <i>π</i><sub>S</sub>) were longitude and latitude, followed by the current distance to the niche centroid; the efficiency of purifying selection was mostly accounted for by the current distance to the niche centroid (which was also correlated to elevation). No correlation was observed between genetic diversity or <i>π</i><sub>N</sub>/<i>π</i><sub>S</sub> and current population area.</p> <p><b>Main conclusions:</b> Historical and ecological factors have to be taken into account for explaining the amounts of genetic diversity in mountain tropical species. Following the NTT, populations closer to the niche centroid are more efficient at eliminating slightly deleterious mutations than marginal stands, independently of their size or geographical location (longitude). Expanding the central-abundance theory within the scope of the NTT might help reconciling conflicting views concerning the extent of its empirical support.</p>
Data from: Linking niche theory to ecological impacts of successful invaders: insights from resource fluctuation-specialist herbivore interactions
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: Niche theory and its relation to morphology and phenotype in geographic space: a case study in woodpeckers (Picidae)
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Using niche centrality within the scope of the nearly neutral theory of evolution to predict genetic diversity in a tropical conifer species-pair
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
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