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Competitive exclusion, beta diversity, and deterministic vs. stochastic drivers of community assembly
Author(s) -
Segre Hila,
Ron Ronen,
De Malach Niv,
Henkin Zalmen,
Mandel Micha,
Kadmon Ronen
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
ecology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.852
H-Index - 265
eISSN - 1461-0248
pISSN - 1461-023X
DOI - 10.1111/ele.12343
Subject(s) - interspecific competition , species richness , competitive exclusion , beta diversity , ecology , competition (biology) , diversity (politics) , biology , mediterranean climate , storage effect , community , gamma diversity , ecosystem , sociology , anthropology
Species diversity has two components – number of species and spatial turnover in species composition (beta‐diversity). Using a field experiment focusing on a system of Mediterranean grasslands, we show that interspecific competition may influence the two components in the same direction or in opposite directions, depending on whether competitive exclusions are deterministic or stochastic. Deterministic exclusions reduce both patch‐scale richness and beta‐diversity, thereby homogenising the community. Stochastic extinctions reduce richness at the patch scale, but increase the differences in species composition among patches. These results indicate that studies of competitive effects on beta diversity may help to distinguish between deterministic and stochastic components of competitive exclusion. Such distinction is crucial for understanding the causal relationship between competition and species diversity, one of the oldest and most fundamental questions in ecology.