Much of ecological theory describes species interactions. These interactions often play an important theoretical role in facilitating coexistence. In particular, rarity in ecological communities, though often observed, provides a significant challenge to theoretical and empirical ecologists alike. I use a plant community model to simulate the effect of stronger negative frequency dependence on the long-term persistence of the rare species in a simulated community. This strong self-limitation produces long persistence times for the rare competitor, which otherwise succumb quickly to stochastic extinction. The results suggest that the mechanism causing species to be rare in this case is the same mechanism allowing those species to persist. To determine if ecological communities generally show the theoretical pattern, I estimate the strength of frequency-dependent population dynamics using species abundance data from 90 communities across a broad range of environments and taxonomic groups. In approximately half of the analyzed communities, rare species showed disproportionately strong negative frequency dependence. In particular, a pattern of increasing frequency dependence with decreasing relative abundance was seen in these communities, signaling the importance of this mechanism for rare species specifically. Insight into the special population dynamics of rare species will inform conservation efforts in response to climate change and other disturbance. Further difficulties in the detection of theoretical patterns in ecological data may be a result of the ecological currency used. Though ecologists typically use abundance data to test theories, energy use is another ecological currency that may be more relevant in some cases. In particular when detecting patterns that are a result of species interactions, the currency used should be the one in which those interactions actually operate. I compare the results of using abundance and energy use to detect two processes with well-defined expectations. The first is a description of population dynamics, the above described relationship between relative abundance and self-limitation. The second, compensatory dynamics, is a description of community-level dynamics. I find that the currency used alters the results, and thus the species-level implications. It does not, however, alter the overall pattern that would have theoretical implications. Results in both currencies support the pattern of strong self-limitation for persistent rare species.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UTAHS/oai:digitalcommons.usu.edu:etd-2944 |
| Date | 01 May 2013 |
| Creators | Yenni, Glenda Marie |
| Publisher | DigitalCommons@USU |
| Source Sets | Utah State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | All Graduate Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | Copyright for this work is held by the author. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. For more information contact Andrew Wesolek (andrew.wesolek@usu.edu). |
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