| 1. |
- Berg, Sofia, et al.
(författare)
-
Rare but important: perturbations to uncommon species have disproportionately large impact on ecological communities
-
Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The majority of species in the ecosystems of the world are rare. Because the contributions to community biomass and productivity of many of these species are small it has been suggested that loss of rare species should have relatively small ecological consequences. However, the extent to which rare species affect the structure and stability of ecosystems is largely unknown. Using a theoretical approach, based on analytical methods, we here investigate how perturbations to rare as well as common species affect the structure (distribution of equilibrium abundances of species) and resilience (recovery rate) of complex ecological communities. We show that, contrary to expectation, resilience and structure of ecological communities are generally more sensitive to perturbations to rare than to common species. We find the explanation for this to lie in the cause of rarity: rare species tend to interact strongly, on a per capita basis, with other species. Our results suggest that many rare species are likely to fill important ecological roles in ecosystems.
|
|
| 2. |
- Säterberg, Torbjörn, et al.
(författare)
-
A potential role for rare species in ecosystem dynamics
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Scientific Reports. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 2045-2322. ; 9, s. 1-12
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The ecological importance of common species for many ecosystem processes and functions is unquestionably due to their high a bundance.Yet, the importance of rare species is much less understood. Here we take a theoretical approach, exposing dynamical models of ecological networks to small perturbations, to explore the dynamical importance of rare and common species. We find that both species types contribute to the recovery of communities following generic perturbations (i.e. perturbations affecting all species).Yet, when perturbations are selective (i.e. affects only one species), perturbations to rare species have the most pronounced effect on community stability. We show that this is due to the strong indirect effects induced by perturbations to rare species. Because indirect effects typically set in at longer timescales, our results indicate that the importance of rare species may be easily overlooked and thus underrated. Hence, our study provides a potential ecological motive for the management and protection of rare species.
|
|
| 3. |
- White, Hannah J., et al.
(författare)
-
Ecosystem stability at the landscape scale is primarily associated with climatic history
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Functional Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0269-8463 .- 1365-2435. ; 36:3, s. 622-634
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There is an increasing interest in landscape-scale perspectives of ecosystem functioning to inform policy and conservation decisions. However, we need a better understanding of the stability of ecosystem functioning (e.g. plant productivity) at the landscape scale to inform policy around topics such as global food security. We investigate the role of the ecological and environmental context on landscape-scale stability of plant productivity in agricultural pasture using remotely sensed enhanced vegetation index data. We determine whether four measures of stability (variability, magnitude of extreme anomalies, recovery time and recovery rate) are predicted by (a) species richness of vascular plants, (b) regional land cover heterogeneity and (c) climatic history. Stability of plant productivity was primarily associated with climatic history, particularly a history of extreme events. These effects outweighed any positive effects of species richness in the agricultural landscape. A history of variable and extreme climates both increased and decreased contemporary ecosystem stability, suggesting both cumulative and legacy effects, whereas land cover heterogeneity had no effect on stability. The landscape scale is a relevant spatial scale for the management of an ecosystem's stability. At this scale, we find that past climate is a stronger driver of stability in plant productivity than species richness, differing from results at finer field scales. Management should take an integrated approach by incorporating the environmental context of the landscape, such as its climatic history, and consider multiple components of stability to maintain functioning in landscapes that are particularly vulnerable to environmental change. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
|
|
