Environmental and spatial controls of biotic assemblages in a discrete semi-terrestrial habitat: comparison of organisms with different dispersal ability sampled in the same plots
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2011 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Journal of Biogeography |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02503.x/abstract |
| Field | Ecology |
| Keywords | Bryophytes; diatoms; dispersal; environmental filtering; fen; metacommunity; molluscs; spatial scale; species sorting; vascular plants |
| Description | Our aim was to test how dispersal ability affects metacommunity structure and associated species distributions by sampling different species groups in the same plots. Our findings provide strong support for the hypothesis that both environmental and spatial variables structure metacommunities of organisms with very different dispersal abilities, including microscopic diatoms. In addition, we show for the first time that the strengths of these effects and their scale dependence may be predicted using important trait differences between organisms, for example differences in propagule size. |
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