Dissecting macroecological and macroevolutionary patterns of forest biodiversity across the Hawaiian archipelago

Biodiversity patterns emerge as a consequence of evolutionary and ecological processes. Their relative importance is frequently tested on model ecosystems such as oceanic islands that vary in both. However, the coarse-scale data typically used in biogeographic studies have limited inferential power to separate the effects of historical biogeographic factors (e.g., island age) from the effects of ecological ones (e.g., island area and habitat heterogeneity). Here, we describe local-scale biodiversity patterns of woody plants using a database of more than 500 forest plots from across the Hawaiian archipelago, where these volcanic islands differ in age by several million years. We show that, after controlling for factors such as island area and heterogeneity, the oldest islands (Kaua’i and O’ahu) have greater native species diversity per unit area than younger islands (Maui and Hawai’i), indicating an important role for macroevolutionary processes in driving not just whole-island differences in species diversity, but also local community assembly. Further, we find that older islands have a greater number of rare species that are more spatially clumped (i.e., higher within-island β-diversity) than younger islands. When we included alien species in our analyses, we found that the signal of macroevolutionary processes via island age was diluted. Our approach allows a more explicit test of the question of how macroevolutionary factors shape not just regional-scale biodiversity, but also local-scale community assembly patterns and processes in a model archipelago ecosystem, and it can be applied to disentangle biodiversity drivers in other systems.

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Scale Expansion of Community Investigations and Integration of the Effects of Abiotic and Biotic Processes on Maintenance of Species Diversity

International Journal of Ecology ◽

10.1155/2011/596508 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 2011 ◽

pp. 1-10

Author(s):

Zhenhong Wang ◽

Ming Zhang ◽

Junfeng Yu ◽

Ruicong Jiang ◽

Xiaolu Yin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Species Diversity ◽

Community Ecology ◽

Local Community ◽

Regional Scale ◽

Ecological Communities ◽

Successional Stage ◽

Academic Fields ◽

Local Site ◽

Pool Level ◽

Scale Expansion

Information on the maintenance of diversity patterns from regional to local scales is dispersed among academic fields due to the local focus of community ecology. To better understand these patterns, the study of ecological communities needs to be expanded to larger scales and the various processes affecting them need to be integrated using a suitable quantitative method. We determined a range of communities on a flora-subregional scale in Yunnan province, China (383210.02 km2). A series of species pools were delimited from the regional to plot scales. Plant diversity was evaluated and abiotic and biotic processes identified at each pool level. The species pool effect was calculated using an innovative model, and the contribution of these processes to the maintenance of plant species diversity was determined and integrated: climate had the greatest effect at the flora-subregional scale, with historical and evolutionary processes contributing ∼11%; climate and human disturbance had the greatest effect at the local site pool scale; competition exclusion and stress limitation explained strong filtering at the successional stage pool scale; biotic processes contributed more on the local community scale than on the regional scale. Scale expansion combined with the filtering model approach solves the local problem in community ecology.

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Rethinking Biological Invasions as a Metacommunity Problem

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution ◽

10.3389/fevo.2020.584701 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

Author(s):

Bryan L. Brown ◽

Jacob N. Barney

Keyword(s):

Biological Invasions ◽

Community Assembly ◽

Species Interactions ◽

Native Species ◽

Biotic Resistance ◽

Propagule Pressure ◽

Regional Scale ◽

Invasion Biology ◽

Enemy Release ◽

Multi Scale

Perhaps more than any other ecological discipline, invasion biology has married the practices of basic science and the application of that science. The conceptual frameworks of population regulation, metapopulations, supply-side ecology, and community assembly have all to some degree informed the regulation, management, and prevention of biological invasions. Invasion biology needs to continue to adopt emerging frameworks and paradigms to progress as both a basic and applied science. This need is urgent as the biological invasion problem continues to worsen. The development of metacommunity theory in the last two decades represents a paradigm-shifting approach to community ecology that emphasizes the multi-scale nature of community assembly and biodiversity regulation. Work on metacommunities has demonstrated that even relatively simple processes at local scales are often heavily influenced by regional-scale processes driven primarily by the dispersal of organisms. Often the influence of dispersal interacts with, or even swamps, the influence of local-scale drivers like environmental conditions and species interactions. An emphasis on dispersal and a focus on multi-scale processes enable metacommunity theory to contribute strongly to the advancement of invasion biology. Propagule pressure of invaders has been identified as one of the most important drivers facilitating invasion, so the metacommunity concept, designed to address how dispersal-driven dynamics affect community structure, can directly address many of the central questions of invasion biology. Here we revisit many of the important concepts and paradigms of biological invasions—propagule pressure, biotic resistance, enemy release, functional traits, neonative species, human-assisted transport,—and view those concepts through the lens of metacommunity theory. In doing so, we accomplish several goals. First, we show that work on metacommunities has generated multiple predictions, models, and the tools that can be directly applied to invasion scenarios. Among these predictions is that invasibility of a community should decrease with both local controls on community assembly, and the dispersal rates of native species. Second, we demonstrate that framing biological invasions in metacommunity terms actually unifies several seemingly disparate concepts central to invasion biology. Finally, we recommend several courses of action for the control and management of invasive species that emerge from applying the concepts of metacommunity theory.

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Non-native plant species in alder-dominated forests in Slovakia: what does the regional- and the local-scale approach bring?

Folia Oecologica ◽

10.2478/foecol-2020-0012 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 47 (2) ◽

pp. 100-108

Author(s):

Michal Slezák ◽

Štefánia Farkašovská ◽

Richard Hrivnák

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Native Species ◽

Linear Models ◽

Regional Scale ◽

Plant Invasions ◽

Local Scale ◽

Native Plant ◽

Native Plant Species ◽

Carpathian Region ◽

The Relationship

AbstractEuropean riparian forests are in general susceptible to plant invasions compared to other natural forest habitats. Their descriptive vegetation overviews with phytosociological affiliation contain detail insight into species composition patterns at various geographical scales, but quantitative assessment of the relationship between non-native plant richness and measured environmental variables is still scarce. We used two vegetation datasets of alder-dominated forests to analyse plant invasion patterns in the Pannonian and the Carpathian region of Slovakia. A large dataset of 918 vegetation plots was used at the regional scale, whereas 40 vegetation plots completed by ecological (mainly soil, climatic) predictors were used at the local scale in order to determine how they shape non-native species richness. We found significant differences (P < 0.05) between the Pannonian and the Carpathian region in the number of non-native vascular plants at both scales, with altitude being the most important predictor. Generalized Linear Models accounted for 56.6% and 59.6% of alien species richness data in the Pannonian and Carpathian region, respectively. Alien richness was affected by altitude and soil pH in the Pannonian region, but only by altitude in the Carpathian region.

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Systematics and evolution of Lentibulariaceae: III. Utricularia

10.1093/oso/9780198779841.003.0008 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Richard W. Jobson ◽

Paulo C. Baleeiro ◽

Cástor Guisande

Keyword(s):

Gene Flow ◽

Species Diversity ◽

Population Level ◽

Oceanic Islands ◽

Vulnerable Species ◽

Phylogenetic Studies ◽

Molecular Phylogenetic

Utricularia is a morphologically and ecologically diverse genus currently comprising more than 230 species divided into three subgenera—Polypompholyx, Utricularia, and Bivalvaria—and 35 sections. The genus is distributed worldwide except on the poles and most oceanic islands. The Neotropics has the highest species diversity, followed by Australia. Compared to its sister genera, Utricularia has undergone greater rates of speciation, which are linked to its extreme morphological flexibility that has resulted in the evolution of habitat-specific forms: terrestrial, rheophytic, aquatic, lithophytic, and epiphytic. Molecular phylogenetic studies have resolved relationships for 44% of the species across 80% of the sections. Scant data are available for phylogeography or population-level processes such as gene flow, hybridization, or pollination. Because nearly 90% of the species are endemics, data are urgently needed to determine how to protect vulnerable species and their habitats.

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Mechanisms of dispersal and establishment drive a stepping stone community assembly on seamounts and oceanic islands

Marine Biology ◽

10.1007/s00227-021-03919-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 168 (7) ◽

Author(s):

Eric F. Mazzei ◽

Hudson T. Pinheiro ◽

Thiony Simon ◽

Rodrigo L. Moura ◽

Raphael M. Macieira ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Community Assembly ◽

Oceanic Islands ◽

Stepping Stone

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Evidence for local‐scale community assembly processes from long‐term observations of biodiversity in a grassland chronosequence

Journal of Vegetation Science ◽

10.1111/jvs.13065 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Mark J. McKone ◽

Evelyn W. Williams ◽

Jared J. Beck

Keyword(s):

Community Assembly ◽

Local Scale

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Arthropod community structure in pastures of an island archipelago (Azores): looking for local–regional species richness patterns at fine-scales

Bulletin of Entomological Research ◽

10.1079/ber2004289 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 94 (2) ◽

pp. 111-121 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

P.A.V. Borges ◽

V.K. Brown

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Regional Scale ◽

Local Scale ◽

Local Species Richness ◽

Β Diversity ◽

Arthropod Species ◽

Α Diversity ◽

Local Species ◽

Richness Patterns

AbstractThe arthropod species richness of pastures in three Azorean islands was used to examine the relationship between local and regional species richness over two years. Two groups of arthropods, spiders and sucking insects, representing two functionally different but common groups of pasture invertebrates were investigated. The local–regional species richness relationship was assessed over relatively fine scales: quadrats (= local scale) and within pastures (= regional scale). Mean plot species richness was used as a measure of local species richness (= α diversity) and regional species richness was estimated at the pasture level (= γ diversity) with the ‘first-order-Jackknife’ estimator. Three related issues were addressed: (i) the role of estimated regional species richness and variables operating at the local scale (vegetation structure and diversity) in determining local species richness; (ii) quantification of the relative contributions of α and β diversity to regional diversity using additive partitioning; and (iii) the occurrence of consistent patterns in different years by analysing independently between-year data. Species assemblages of spiders were saturated at the local scale (similar local species richness and increasing β-diversity in richer regions) and were more dependent on vegetational structure than regional species richness. Sucking insect herbivores, by contrast, exhibited a linear relationship between local and regional species richness, consistent with the proportional sampling model. The patterns were consistent between years. These results imply that for spiders local processes are important, with assemblages in a particular patch being constrained by habitat structure. In contrast, for sucking insects, local processes may be insignificant in structuring communities.

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Managing Alien Plants for Biodiversity Outcomes—the Need for Triage

Invasive Plant Science and Management ◽

10.1614/ipsm-09-042.1 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 1-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

Paul O. Downey ◽

Moira C. Williams ◽

Leonie K. Whiffen ◽

Bruce A. Auld ◽

Mark A. Hamilton ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Biodiversity Conservation ◽

Native Species ◽

Regional Scale ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Alien Plants ◽

Plant Management ◽

Policy Reforms ◽

Management Decisions ◽

Alien Plant ◽

Triage System

AbstractRecognition that alien plants pose a significant threat to biodiversity has not always translated into effective management strategies, policy reforms, and systems to establish priorities. Thus, many alien plant management decisions for the protection of biodiversity occur with limited knowledge of what needs to be protected (other than biodiversity in a generalized sense) or the urgency of actions. To rectify this, we have developed a triage system that enables alien plant management decisions to be made based on (1) the urgency of control relative to the degree of threat posed to biodiversity, compared with (2) the likelihood of achieving a successful conservation outcome as a result of alien plant control. This triage system is underpinned by a two-step approach, which identifies the biodiversity at risk and assesses sites to determine priorities for control. This triage system was initially developed to manage the threat posed by bitou bush to native species in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. It has subsequently been improved with the national assessment of lantana in Australia, and the adaptation from a single to multiple alien plant species approach on a regional scale. This triage system identifies nine levels of priority for alien plant management aimed at biodiversity conservation, ranging from immediate, targeted action to limited or no action. The development of this approach has enabled long-term management priorities to be set for widespread alien plants that are unlikely to be eradicated. It also enables control to occur in a coordinated manner for biodiversity conservation at a landscape scale, rather than as a series of individual unconnected short-term actions.

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