Evidence that niche specialization explains species-energy relationships in lake fish communities

1. Interspecific niche differences have long been identified as a major explanation for the occurrence of species-rich communities. However, much fieldwork studying variation in local species richness has focused upon physical habitat attributes or regional factors, such as the size of the regional species pool. 2. We applied indices of functional diversity and niche overlap to data on the species niche to examine the importance of interspecific niche differentiation for species richness in French lake fish communities. We combined this information with environmental data to test generalizations of the physiological tolerance and niche specialization hypotheses for species-energy relationships. 3. We found evidence for a largely non-saturating relationship (relative to random expectation) between species richness and functional evenness (evenness of spacing between species in niche space), while functional richness (volume of niche space occupied) peaked at moderate levels of species richness and niche overlap showed an initial decrease followed by saturation. This suggests that increased niche specialization may have allowed species to coexist in the most species-rich communities. 4. We tested for evidence that increased temperature, local habitat area, local habitat diversity and immigration affected species richness via increased niche specialization. Temperature explained by far the largest amount of variation in species richness, functional diversity and niche overlap. These results, combined with the largely non-saturating species richness-functional evenness relationship, suggest that increased temperature may have permitted increased species richness by allowing increased niche specialization. 5. These results emphasize the importance of niche differences for species coexistence in species-rich communities, and indicate that the conservation of functional diversity may be vital for the maintenance of species diversity in biological communities. Our approach may be applied readily to many types of community, and at any scale, thus providing a flexible means of testing niche-based hypotheses for species richness gradients.     

浙江乐清湾浮游动物空间生态位

基于2016年5月至2017年2月在乐清湾进行的4个航次浮游动物调查数据,计算乐清湾浮游动物优势种的优势度指数(S)、平均拥挤度(X*)、生态位宽度(Bi)及生态位重叠值(Qik).结果表明:乐清湾海域浮游动物优势种(S＞0.02)共17种,生态位宽度值差异较大,优势度指数与生态位宽度值呈极显著正相关.浮游动物的生态位...     

Dietary and Temporal Niche Differentiation in Tropical Ants—Can They Explain Local Ant Coexistence?

How species with similar ecological requirements avoid competitive exclusion remains contentious, especially in the species‐rich tropics. Niche differentiation has been proposed as a major mechanism for species coexistence. However, different niche dimensions must be studied simultaneously to assess their combined effects on diversity and composition of a community. In most terrestrial ecosystems, ants are among the most abundant and ubiquitous animals. Since they display direct, aggressive competition and often competitively displace subordinate species from resources, niche differentiation may be especially relevant among ants. We studied temporal and trophic niche differentiation in a ground ant community in a forest fragment in French Guiana. Different baits were presented during day and night to assess the temporal and dietary niches of the local species. They represented natural food resources such as sugars, carrion, excrements, seeds, and live prey. In addition, pitfalls provided a background measure of ant diversity. The communities attracted to the different baits significantly differed from each other, and even less attractive baits yielded additional species. We detected species specialized on living grasshoppers, sucrose, seeds, or dead insects. Community‐level differences between day and night were larger than those between baits, and many species were temporally specialized. In contrast to commonness, foraging efficiency of species was correlated to food specialization. We conclude that many ant species occupy different temporal or dietary niches. However, for many generalized species, the dietary, and temporal niche differentiation brought forward through our sampling effort, cannot alone explain their coexistence.     

基于生态位理论的河西走廊县域城市竞合关系研究

根据生态位理论,用城市综合发展水平和生态位宽度来反映各城市对所在群落中的资源占有和利用程度,通过聚类分析和生态系统结构的划分对河西走廊20个县域城市的竞合关系进行了评价。结论表明:2001—2013年间,河西走廊各城市综合发展水平均有不同程度的提高,城市生态位也表现出不同程度的升降,综合发展水平值与生态位宽度呈高度正相关关系,说明各城市对资源的占有和利用程度联系密切,相辅相成。嘉峪关市和金川区生态位始终位于河西走廊20个县域城市前列,为第Ⅰ类城市,凉州区、肃州区和甘州区为第Ⅱ类城市,阿克塞县、玉门市、敦煌市和肃北县为第Ⅲ类城市,其余11个城市为第Ⅳ类。在此基础上,结合生态位错位、扩充、协同发展等理论,根据城市生态系统结构提出了相对应的基本竞合发展策略。     

Complex relationships between species niches and environmental heterogeneity affect species co-occurrence patterns in modelled and real communities

Species co-occurrence analysis is commonly used to assess how interspecific interactions dictate community assembly. Non-random co-occurrences, however, may also emerge from niche differences as well as environmental heterogeneity. The relationships between species co-occurrence patterns, environmental heterogeneity and species niches are not fully understood, due to complex interactions among them. To analyse the relationships among these patterns and processes, I developed synthetic community models and analysed a large dataset of tree species across the conterminous United States. Niche overlap and environmental heterogeneity had significant and contrasting effects on species co-occurrence patterns, in both modelled and real communities. Niche breadth, in turn, affected the effect sizes of both variables on species co-occurrence patterns. The effect of niche breadth on the relationship between co-occurrence and niche overlap was markedly consistent between modelled and real communities, while its effect on the relationship between co-occurrence and environmental heterogeneity was mostly consistent between real and modelled data. The results of this analysis highlight the complex and interactive effects of species niche overlap, niche breadth and environmental heterogeneity on species co-occurrence patterns. Therefore, inferring ecological processes from co-occurrence patterns without accounting for these fundamental characteristics of species and environments may lead to biased conclusions.