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The contribution of intra‐ and interspecific tolerance variability to biodiversity changes along toxicity gradients |
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| Authors: | Richard Bindler Paul J. Van den Brink Michiel Daam Helene Roussel Jonas Juselius Dirk Verschuren Colin R. Janssen |
| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Ume? University, , SE 901 87 Ume?, Sweden;2. Alterra, Wageningen University and Research centre, , 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands;3. Department of Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management, Wageningen University, Droevendaalstesteeg 4, , 6708 Wageningen, The Netherlands;4. Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Technical University of Lisbon, Avenido Professor Cavaco SIlva, 2780‐990 Porto Salvo, , Lisbon, Portugal;5. Ademe, French Environment and Energy Management Agency, Avenue du Gresillé 20, BP 90406, 49004 Angers cedex, , France;6. High Performance Computing group, Department of IT, University of Troms?, Postbox 6050 Langnes, , 9037 Troms?, Norway;7. Limnology Unit, Department of Biology, Ghent University, , K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium;8. Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology and Applied Ecology, Ghent University, Plateaustraat 22, , 9000 Ghent, Belgium |
| Abstract: | The worldwide distribution of toxicants is an important yet understudied driver of biodiversity, and the mechanisms relating toxicity to diversity have not been adequately explored. Here, we present a community model integrating demography, dispersal and toxicant‐induced effects on reproduction driven by intraspecific and interspecific variability in toxicity tolerance. We compare model predictions to 458 species abundance distributions (SADs) observed along concentration gradients of toxicants to show that the best predictions occur when intraspecific variability is five and ten times higher than interspecific variability. At high concentrations, lower settings of intraspecific variability resulted in predictions of community extinction that were not supported by the observed SADs. Subtle but significant species losses at low concentrations were predicted only when intraspecific variability dominated over interspecific variability. Our results propose intraspecific variability as a key driver for biodiversity sustenance in ecosystems challenged by environmental change. |
| Keywords: | Community ecology dispersal limitation metals model inference pesticides species abundance distributions |