Perturbations alter community convergence, divergence, and formation of multiple community states
Houseman, Gregory R. Mittelbach, Gary G. Reynolds, Heather L. Gross, Katherine L.
Houseman, Gregory R.
Mittelbach, Gary G.
Reynolds, Heather L.
Gross, Katherine L.
Citations
Altmetric:
Other Names
Location
Time Period
Advisors
Original Date
Digitization Date
Issue Date
2008-08-01
Type
Article
Genre
Keywords
Alternate states,Community analysis,Community assembly,Dispersion,Disturbance,Fertilization,Grasslands,Southwest Michigan,Perturbation,Priority effects
Subjects (LCSH)
Citation
Houseman, G.R., Mittelbach, G.G., Reynolds, H.L. and Gross, K.L. (2008), Perturbations alter community convergence, divergence, and formation of multiple community states. Ecology, 89: 2172-2180. https://doi.org/10.1890/07-1228.1
Abstract
Environmental perturbations (e.g., disturbance, fertilization) commonly shift communities to a new mean state, but much less is known about their effects on the variability (dispersion) of communities around the mean, particularly when perturbations are combined. Community dispersion may increase or decrease (representing a divergence or convergence among communities) if changing environmental conditions alter species interactions or magnify small initial differences that develop during community assembly. We used data from an experimental study of disturbance and fertilization in a low-productivity grassland to test how these two perturbations affect patterns of species composition and abundance. We found that a one-time biomass reduction decreased community dispersion, which persisted over four growing seasons. Conversely, continuous fertilization increased community dispersion and, when combined with disturbance, led to the formation of three distinct community states. These results illustrate that perturbations can have differing effects on community dispersion. Attention to the variance in community responses to perturbations lends insight into how ecological interactions determine community structure, which may be missed when focusing only on mean responses. Furthermore, multiple perturbations may have complex effects on community dispersion, yielding convergence or divergence patterns that are difficult to predict based on analysis of single factors.
Table of Contents
Description
Publisher
John Wiley & Sons
Published on behalf of Ecological Society of America
Published on behalf of Ecological Society of America
Journal
Ecological Applications
Book Title
Series
Digital Collection
Finding Aid URL
Use and Reproduction
Archival Collection
PubMed ID
ISSN
1939-5582
1051-0761
1051-0761