Integrating the underlying structure of stochasticity into community ecology

Publikation: Beiträge in ZeitschriftenZeitschriftenaufsätzeForschungbegutachtet

Authors

  • Lauren G. Shoemaker
  • Lauren L. Sullivan
  • Ian Donohue
  • Juliano S. Cabral
  • Ryan J. Williams
  • Margaret M. Mayfield
  • Jonathan M. Chase
  • Chengjin Chu
  • W. Stanley Harpole
  • Andreas Huth
  • Janneke HilleRisLambers
  • Aubrie R.M. James
  • Nathan J.B. Kraft
  • Ranjan Muthukrishnan
  • Sean Satterlee
  • Franziska Taubert
  • Xugao Wang
  • Thorsten Wiegand
  • Qiang Yang
  • Karen C. Abbott

Stochasticity is a core component of ecology, as it underlies key processes that structure and create variability in nature. Despite its fundamental importance in ecological systems, the concept is often treated as synonymous with unpredictability in community ecology, and studies tend to focus on single forms of stochasticity rather than taking a more holistic view. This has led to multiple narratives for how stochasticity mediates community dynamics. Here, we present a framework that describes how different forms of stochasticity (notably demographic and environmental stochasticity) combine to provide underlying and predictable structure in diverse communities. This framework builds on the deep ecological understanding of stochastic processes acting at individual and population levels and in modules of a few interacting species. We support our framework with a mathematical model that we use to synthesize key literature, demonstrating that stochasticity is more than simple uncertainty. Rather, stochasticity has profound and predictable effects on community dynamics that are critical for understanding how diversity is maintained. We propose next steps that ecologists might use to explore the role of stochasticity for structuring communities in theoretical and empirical systems, and thereby enhance our understanding of community dynamics.

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Aufsatznummere02922
ZeitschriftEcology
Jahrgang101
Ausgabenummer2
Anzahl der Seiten17
ISSN0012-9658
DOIs
PublikationsstatusErschienen - 01.02.2020

Bibliographische Notiz

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 The Authors. Ecology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Ecological Society of America

Dokumente

DOI

Zuletzt angesehen

Forschende

  1. Marcus Erben

Publikationen

  1. Towards productive functions?
  2. Inside-sediment partitioning of PAH, PCB and organochlorine compounds and inferences on sampling and normalization methods
  3. The Structure of Student Interest in Computers and Information Technology
  4. Monitoring of microbially mediated corrosion and scaling processes using redox potential measurements
  5. Managing complexity in automative production
  6. Scholarly Question Answering Using Large Language Models in the NFDI4DataScience Gateway
  7. A Computational Research System for the History of Science
  8. What Makes for a Good Theory? How to Evaluate a Theory Using the Strength Model of Self-Control as an Example
  9. "And I Think That Is a Very Straightforward Way of Dealing With It''
  10. Tuning kalman filter in linear systems
  11. Measuring cognitive load with subjective rating scales during problem solving
  12. Optimal dynamic scale and structure of a multi-pollution economy
  13. Applications of the Simultaneous Modular Approach in the Field of Material Flow Analysis
  14. Scale-dependent diversity patterns affect spider assemblages of two contrasting forest ecosystems
  15. 8th challenge on question answering over linked data (QALD-8)
  16. Operations Systems of Container Terminals
  17. Entity linking in 40 languages using MAG
  18. Object-Oriented Construction Handbook
  19. Recognition and approach responses toward threatening objects
  20. Conjunctive cohesion in English language EU documents - A corpus-based analysis and its implications
  21. Towards a spatial understanding of identity play
  22. On the distinctiveness of tags in collaborative tagging systems
  23. Developing a sustainable platform for entity annotation benchmarks