Modelling the effect of directional spatial ecological processes at different scales

Understanding the effects of disturbance and secondary succession on spatio-temporal patterns in the abundance of species is stymied by a lack of long-term demographic data, especially in response to infrequent and high intensity disturbances, such as hurricanes. Moreover, resistance and resilience to hurricane-induced disturbance may be mediated by legacies of previous land use, although such interactive effects are poorly understood, especially in tropical environments. We address these central issues in disturbance ecology by analyzing an extensive dataset, spanning the impacts of Hurricanes Hugo and Georges, on the abundance of a Neotropical walking stick, Lamponius portoricensis, in tabonuco rainforest of Puerto Rico during the wet and dry seasons from 1991 to 2007. By synthesizing data from two proximate sites in tabonuco forest, we show that resistance to Hurricane Hugo (97% reduction in abundance) was much less than resistance to Hurricane Georges (21% reduction in abundance). Based on a powerful statistical approach (generalized linear mixed-effects models with Poisson error terms), we documented that the temporal trajectories of abundance during secondary succession (i.e., patterns of resilience) differed between hurricanes and among historical land use categories, but that the effects of hurricanes and land use histories were independent of each other. These complex results likely arise because of differences in the intensities of the two hurricanes with respect to microclimatic effects (temperature and moisture) in the forest understory, as well as to time-lags in the response of L. portoricensis to changes in the abundance and distribution of preferred food plants (Piper) in post-hurricane environments.     

Contrasting responses of bee communities to coffee flowering at different spatial scales

While investigating biodiversity patterns on different spatial scales, ecological processes determining these patterns have been rarely analysed. Flower visitation by bees is an important ecological process that is related to floral resource availability. However, little is known about whether responses of bee communities to floral resource availability change at different spatial scales. We studied density and species richness of flower-visiting bees in relation to floral resource availability, provided by coffee, in traditional agroforestry systems on a field, shrub, and branch scale. On a field scale, mean bee density per shrub increased with decreasing proportion of flowering coffee shrubs per site, showing a dilution effect. Conversely, on shrub and branch scales bee density per shrub, or shrub part, increased with increasing number of inflorescences, showing a concentration effect. Additionally, bee density per shrub was higher on those that were only partly, rather than totally surrounded by other flowering coffee shrubs. Species richness of flower-visiting bees was positively affected by high resource availability on a shrub and a branch scale, expressed by a high number of inflorescences, but at the field scale the proportion of flowering shrubs per site did not have any effect on species richness. Our results show contrasting responses of the community of flower-visiting bees to floral resource availability, depending on the spatial scale considered. We conclude that patterns of flower-visiting bee communities of only one spatial scale can not be generalized, since the number of pollinators may be limited on a field scale, but not on smaller scales.     

Ecology of algal communities of different soil types from Cierva Point, Antarctic Peninsula

During summer 2005/2006, we characterized three sampling sites on mineral soils and four on ornithogenic soils from Cierva Point, Antarctic Peninsula, in terms of topographic and abiotic features (altitude, slope, magnetic direction, temperature, texture, pH, conductivity, organic matter, moisture and nutrient concentrations), and compared their microalgal communities through taxonomic composition, species richness, diversity, chlorophyll a content and their variation in time. Average values of pH, moisture, organic matter and nutrient concentrations were always significantly lower in mineral than in ornithogenic soils. Low N/P mass ratio showed potential N-limitation of biomass capacity in the former. On the other hand, the results suggested that physical stability is not as a key stress factor for mineral soil microalgae. Chlorophyll a concentration was not only higher in ornithogenic soils, but it also showed a wider range of values. As this parameter was positively correlated with temperature, pH, nutrients, organic matter and moisture, we cannot come to conclusions regarding the influence of each factor on algal growth. Communities of mineral soils were significantly more diverse than those of enriched ornithogenic soils due to higher species richness as well as higher equitability. Also, their structure was steadier over time, as shown by a cluster analysis based on relative frequency of algal taxa. Although Cyanobacteria and Bacillariophyceae dominated almost all samples, Chlorophyceae represented 34% of the 140 taxa recorded, and most of them observed only in cultures. The detection under controlled conditions of a high latent species richness in harsh mineral soil sites shows that the composition and equitability of these microalgal communities would be more prone to modification due to the manifold local consequences of climatic change than those of ornithogenic soils.     

Patterns of species density and productivity at different spatial scales in herbaceous plant communities

A major challenge in evaluating patterns of species richness and productivity involves acquiring data to examine these relationships empirically across a range of ecologically significant spatial scales. In this paper, we use data from herb‐dominated plant communities at six Long‐Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites to examine how the relationship between plant species density and above‐ground net primary productivity (ANPP) differs when the spatial scale of analysis is changed. We quantified this relationship at different spatial scales in which we varied the focus and extent of analysis: (1) among fields within communities, (2) among fields within biomes or biogeographic regions, and (3) among communities within biomes or biogeographic regions. We used species density (D=number of species per m²) as our measure of diversity to have a comparable index across all sites and scales. Although we expected unimodal relationships at all spatial scales, we found that spatial scale influenced the form of the relationship. At the scale of fields within different grassland communities, we detected a significant relationship at only one site (Minnesota old‐fields), and it was negative linear. When we expanded the extent of analyses to biogeographic regions (grasslands or North America), we found significant unimodal relationships in both cases. However, when we combined data to examine patterns among community types within different biogeographic regions (grassland, alpine tundra, arctic tundra, or North America), we did not detect significant relationships between species density and ANPP for any region. The results of our analyses demonstrate that the spatial scale of analysis – how data are aggregated and patterns examined – can influence the form of the relationship between species density and productivity. It also demonstrates the need for data sets from a broad spectrum of sites sampled over a range of scales for examining challenging and controversial ecological hypotheses.     

Food-web structure of seagrass communities across different spatial scales and human impacts

Seagrass beds provide important habitat for a wide range of marine species but are threatened by multiple human impacts in coastal waters. Although seagrass communities have been well-studied in the field, a quantification of their food-web structure and functioning, and how these change across space and human impacts has been lacking. Motivated by extensive field surveys and literature information, we analyzed the structural features of food webs associated with Zostera marina across 16 study sites in 3 provinces in Atlantic Canada. Our goals were to (i) quantify differences in food-web structure across local and regional scales and human impacts, (ii) assess the robustness of seagrass webs to simulated species loss, and (iii) compare food-web structure in temperate Atlantic seagrass beds with those of other aquatic ecosystems. We constructed individual food webs for each study site and cumulative webs for each province and the entire region based on presence/absence of species, and calculated 16 structural properties for each web. Our results indicate that food-web structure was similar among low impact sites across regions. With increasing human impacts associated with eutrophication, however, food-web structure show evidence of degradation as indicated by fewer trophic groups, lower maximum trophic level of the highest top predator, fewer trophic links connecting top to basal species, higher fractions of herbivores and intermediate consumers, and higher number of prey per species. These structural changes translate into functional changes with impacted sites being less robust to simulated species loss. Temperate Atlantic seagrass webs are similar to a tropical seagrass web, yet differed from other aquatic webs, suggesting consistent food-web characteristics across seagrass ecosystems in different regions. Our study illustrates that food-web structure and functioning of seagrass habitats change with human impacts and that the spatial scale of food-web analysis is critical for determining results.     

Interactions of gall-forming species at different plant spatial scales

Interspecific competition has been intensely studied as an organizing force in insect herbivore communities that can be mediated by changes in resource availability. We analyzed patterns of interspecific association of three species of gall-forming insects at shoot length class and shrub levels for Bauhinia brevipes through a null model program. Results show that shoots galled by three species were distributed independently among shoot length classes over 3-years, hence, no evidence of competition for shoots was found. Nevertheless, at the plant level our results suggest that there was a positive association. We found no evidence of any reciprocal negative effect because the density of species did not differ among shoot length classes. We suggest that this lack of pattern was probably due to: (a) host-plant resistance mediating interactions; (b) higher abundance of plant resource available, or (c) free-feeding herbivores mediating interactions by manipulating the resources used by gall-forming species.     

Diet of Antarctic fur seals Arctocephalus gazella at the Danco Coast,Antarctic Peninsula

The diet of non-breeding male Antarctic fur seals, Arctocephalus gazella, was investigated at the Danco Coast, Antarctic Peninsula, by the analysis of 31 and 149 scats collected from January to March 1998 and 2000, respectively. Overall, fish and krill, followed by penguins and squids, were the most frequent prey and constituted the bulk of the diet. The importance of the remaining taxa represented in the samples (octopods, gastropods, bivalves, isopods, polychaetes and poriferans) was negligible. Among fish, channichthyids constituted the bulk of the diet, with Chionodraco rastrospinosus and Chaenodraco wilsoni, followed by the nototheniid, Pleuragramma antarcticum, being the main prey. The myctophid, Electrona antarctica, was the most frequent and numerous fish prey. The results are discussed and compared with those reported for the South Shetland Islands, the closest area for which similar information is available.     

Determinants of avian species richness at different spatial scales

ABSTRACT. Studies of factors influencing avian biodiversity yield very different results depending on the spatial scale at which species richness is calculated. Ecological studies at small spatial scales (plot size 0.0025–0.4 km²) emphasize the importance of habitat diversity, whereas biogeographical studies at large spatial scales (quadrat size 400–50,000 km²) emphasize variables related to available energy such as temperature. In order to bridge the gap between those two approaches the bird atlas data set of Lake Constance was used to study factors determining avian species diversity at the intermediate spatial scales of landscapes (quadrat size 4–36 km²). At these spatial scales bird species richness was influenced by habitat diversity and not by variables related to available energy probably because, at the landscape scale, variation in available energy is small. Changing quadrat size between 4 and 36 km², but keeping the geographical extension of the study constant resulted in profound changes in the degree to which the amount of different habitat types was correlated with species richness. This suggests that high species diversity is achieved by different management regimes depending on the spatial scale at which species richness is calculated. However, generally, avian species diversity seems to be determined by spatial heterogeneity at the corresponding spatial scale. Thus, protecting the diversity of landscapes and ecosystems appears to ensure also high levels of species diversity.     

不同空间尺度三维建筑景观变化

以沈阳市铁西区建筑物三维信息为基础数据,从建筑高度、密度、体积与体形、分布均匀度与空间拥挤度等方面构建了三维建筑景观评价指标,分别从区域、功能分区和梯度带3个角度分析了三维建筑景观的变化特征.结果表明:从1997年到2008年,铁西区建筑向垂直方向扩张,建筑空间分布越来越不均匀,空间拥挤度、建筑平均体积与容积率逐渐增大;居住区平均高度、平均体积、覆盖率、容积率、空间拥挤程度最小,建筑分布最均匀;商业区除建筑高度变异系数和平均体形系数最小外,其余指标值最大;工业区高度变异系数和平均体形系数最大,空间分布最不均匀;从梯度带上看,建筑使用类型的差异决定了三维建筑景观的变化特征.     

Spatial heterogeneity in parasite infections at different spatial scales in an intertidal bivalve

Spatial heterogeneities in the abundance of free-living organisms as well as in infection levels of their parasites are a common phenomenon, but knowledge on parasitism in invertebrate intermediate hosts in this respect is scarce. We investigated the spatial pattern of four dominant trematode species which utilize a common intertidal bivalve, the cockle Cerastoderma edule, as second intermediate host in their life cycles. Sampling of cockles from the same cohort at 15 sites in the northern Wadden Sea (North Sea) over a distance of 50 km revealed a conspicuous spatial heterogeneity in infection levels in all four species over the total sample as well as among and within sampling sites. Whereas multiple regression analyses indicated the density of first intermediate upstream hosts to be the strongest determinant of infection levels in cockles, the situation within sites was more complex with no single strong predictor variable. However, host size was positively and host density negatively correlated with infection levels and there was an indication of differential susceptibility of cockle hosts. Small-scale differences in physical properties of the habitat in the form of residual water at low tide resulted in increased infection levels of cockles which we experimentally transferred into pools. A complex interplay of these factors may be responsible for within-site heterogeneities. At larger spatial scales, these factors may be overridden by the strong effect of upstream hosts. In contrast to first intermediate trematode hosts, there was no indication for inter-specific interactions. In other terms, the recruitment of trematodes in second intermediate hosts seems to be largely controlled by pre-settlement processes both among and within host populations.     

Community structure in ichneumonid parasitoids at different spatial scales

The processes underlying parasitoid community structure are little known. Stochastic niche-apportionment models provide one route to underlying assemblage rules in this and other groups. Previous work has applied this approach to parasitoids found on single host species in single populations. However, parasitoid communities are known to extend across multiple hosts and scales. The patterns of relative abundances generated by five niche-apportionment models were compared to those observed in assemblages of two sub-families of the Ichneumonidae, the Diplazontinae and Pimplinae, at landscape and patch scales, Yorkshire, UK. Three of the five models produced patterns that were significantly different to the observed pattern for all taxonomic levels at both spatial scales. The Diplazontinae fit the random fraction (RF) model at the landscape scale in broadleaved woods. This suggests that hierarchical structuring and biotic interactions may play a role in the structuring of Diplazontinae assemblages at this scale. In contrast the Pimplinae fit the RF model only at the patch scale and only at one site. However, the Pimplini tribe (all chiefly parasitoids of Lepidoptera) fit the random assortment (RA) model at both the landscape and the patch scales, whilst the Ephialtini tribe (wide range of hosts) fit no model at either scale. The ecological interpretation of the RA model suggests that the Pimplini tribe is an unsaturated assemblage, where some of the total available resources are unused. Our results show, through the fit of mechanistic niche-apportionment models, that the processes that may structure ichneumonid parasitoid assemblages are not consistent across taxa and spatial scales.     

Conservation planning with insects at three different spatial scales

Deciding which areas to protect, and where to manage and how, are no easy tasks. Many protected areas were established opportunistically under strong political and economic constraints, which may have resulted in inefficient and ineffective conservation. Systematic conservation planning has helped us move from ad-hoc decisions to a quantitative and transparent decision-making process, identifying conservation priorities that achieve explicit objectives in a cost-efficient manner. Here we use Finnish butterflies to illustrate different modeling approaches to address three different types of situations in conservation planning at three different spatial scales. First, we employ species distribution models at the national scale to construct a conservation priority map for 91 species at the resolution of 10×10  km. Species distribution models interpolate sparse occurrence data to infer variation in habitat suitability and to predict species responses to habitat loss, management actions and climate change. Second, at the regional scale we select the optimal management plan to protect a set of habitat specialist species. And third, at the landscape scale, we use a metapopulation approach to manage a network of habitat patches for long-term persistence of a single butterfly species. These different modeling approaches illustrate trade-offs between complexity and tractability and between generality and precision. General correlation-based models are helpful to set priorities for multiple species at large spatial scales. More specific management questions at smaller scales require further data and more complex models. The vast numbers of insect species with diverse ecologies provide a source of information that has remained little used in systematic conservation planning.     

Depletion models can predict shorebird distribution at different spatial scales

Predicting the impact of habitat change on populations requires an understanding of the number of animals that a given area can support. Depletion models enable predictions of the numbers of individuals an area can support from prey density and predator searching efficiency and handling time. Depletion models have been successfully employed to predict patterns of abundance over small spatial scales, but most environmental change occurs over large spatial scales. We test the ability of depletion models to predict abundance at a range of scales with black-tailed godwits, Limosa limosa islandica. From the type II functional response of godwits to their prey, we calculated the handling time and searching efficiency associated with these prey. These were incorporated in a depletion model, together with the density of available prey determined from surveys, in order to predict godwit abundance. Tests of these predictions with Wetland Bird Survey data from the British Trust for Ornithology showed significant correlations between predicted and observed densities at three scales: within mudflats, within estuaries and between estuaries. Depletion models can thus be powerful tools for predicting the population size that can be supported on sites at a range of scales. This greatly enhances our confidence in predictions of the consequences of environmental change.