Showing papers in "Ecology in 1995"

Biodiversity: Population Versus Ecosystem Stability

Abstract: The relationships between biodiversity and stability were determined for both population and ecosystem traits in a long-term study of 207 grassland plots. Results demonstrate that biodiversity stabilizes community and ecosystem processes, but not pop- ulation processes. Specifically, year-to-year variability in total aboveground plant com- munity biomass was significantly lower in plots with greater plant species richness both for the entire 11-yr period and for the nine non-drought years. The change in total plant community biomass from before the drought to the peak of the drought was also highly dependent on species richness. For all three measures of total community biomass stability, multiple regressions that controlled for covariates showed similar significant relationships between plant diversity and stability. In contrast, year-to-year variability in species abundances was not stabilized by plant species richness for either all years or non-drought years. This difference between species vs. community biomass likely results from interspecific competition. When climatic vari- ations harm some species, unharmed competitors increase. Such compensatory increases stabilize total community biomass, but cause species abundances to be more variable. These results support both the predictions of Robert May concerning the effects of diversity on population stability and the diversity-stability hypothesis as applied to community and ecosystem processes, thus helping to reconcile a long-standing dispute.

Responses of Arctic Tundra to Experimental and Observed Changes in Climate

Abstract: We manipulated light, temperature, and nutrients in moist tussock tundra near Toolik Lake, Alaska to determine how global changes in these parameters might affect community and ecosystem processes. Some of these manipulations altered nutrient availability, growth—form composition, net primary production, and species richness in less than a decade, indicating that arctic vegetation at this site is sensitive to climatic change. In general, short—term (3—yr) responses were poor predictors of longer term (9—yr) changes in community composition. The longer term responses showed closer correspondence to patterns of vegetation distribution along environmental gradients. Nitrogen and phosphorus availability tended to increase in response to elevated temperature, reflecting increased mineralization, and in response to light attenuation, reflecting reduced nutrient uptake by vegetation. Nutrient addition increased biomass and production of deciduous shrubs but reduced growth of evergreen shrubs and nonvascular plants. Light attenuation reduced biomass of all growth forms. Elevated temperature enhanced shrub production but reduced production of nonvascular plants. These contrasting responses to temperature increase and to nutrient addition by different growth forms "canceled out" at the ecosystem level, buffering changes in ecosystem characteristics such as biomass, production, and nutrient uptake. The major effect of elevated temperature was to speed plant response to changes in soil resources and, in the long term (9 yr), to increase nutrient availability through changes in N mineralization. Species within a growth form were similar to one another in their responses to changes in resources (light or nutrients) but showed no consistent response to evelated temperature. Species richness was reduced 30—50% by temperature and nutrient treatments, due to loss of less abundant species. Declines in diversity occurred disproportionately in forbs, which are important for animal nutrition, and in mosses, which maintain soil thermal regime. There was no increased abundance of initially rare species in response to any treatment. During our 9—yr study (the warmest decade on record in the region), biomass of one dominant tundra species unexpectedly changed in control plots in the direction predicted by our experiments and by Holocene pollen records. This suggests that regional climatic warming may already be altering the species composition of Alaskan arctic tundra.

On the spatial pattern of soil nutrients in desert ecosystems

Abstract: We examined the spatial distribution of soil nutrients in desert ecosystems of the southwestern United States to test the hypothesis that the invasion of semiarid grasslands by desert shrubs is associated with the development of "islands of fertility" under shrubs. In grasslands of the Chihuahuan Desert of New Mexico, 35-76% of the variation in soil N was found at distances <20 cm, which may be due to local accumulations of soil N under Bouteloua eriopoda, a perennial bunchgrass. The remaining variance is found over distances extending to 7 m, which is unlikely to be related to nutrient cycling by grasses. In adjacent shrublands, in which Larrea tridentata has replaced these grasses over the last century, soil N is more concentrated under shrubs and autocorrelated over distances extending 1.0-3.0 m, similar to mean shrub size and reflecting local nutrient cycling by shrubs. A similar pattern was seen in the shrublands of the Mojave Desert of California. Soil P04, Cl, SO4, and K also accumulate under desert shrubs, whereas Rb, Na, Li, Ca, Mg, and Sr are u7sually more concentrated in the intershrub spaces. Changes in the distribution of soil properties may be a useful index of desertification in arid and semiarid grasslands worldwide.

Functional Organization of Stream Fish Assemblages in Relation to Hydrological Variability

Abstract: Stream fish assmemblage data for 34 sites in Wisconsin and Minnesota were obtained from archived sources and were used in conjunction with long—term hydrological data to test the hypothesis that functional organization of fish communities is related to hydrological variability. For each of the 106 species present in the data set, six categories of species traits were derived to describe habitat, trophic, morphologica, and tolerance characteristics. A hierarchical clustering routine was used to identify two functionally similar groups of assemblages defined in terms of species presence/absence. Hydrological factors describing streamflow variability and predictability, as well as frequency and predictability of high flow and low flow extremes, were derived for each of the 34 sites and employed to explain differences among the functionally defined groups. Canonical discriminant analysis revealed that the hydrological data could clearly separate the two ecologically defined groups of assemblages, which were associated with either hydrologically variable streams (high coefficient of variation of daily flows, moderate frequency of spates) or hydrologically stable streams (high predictability of daily flows, stable baseflow conditions). Discriminant functions based on hydrological information classified the 34 fish assemblages into the correct ecological group with 85% accuracy. Assemblages from hydrologically variable sites had generalized feeding strategies, were associated with silt and general substrata, were characterized by slow—velocity species with headwater affinities, and were tolerant to silt. Proportions of species traits present at the 34 sites were regressed against an index of hydrological stability derived from a principal components analysis to test the hypothesis that functional organization of assemblages varied across a gradient of hydrological stability. Results were complementary with the discriminant analysis. Findings were in general agreement with theoretical predictions that variable should support resource generalists while stable habitats should be characterized by a higher proportion of specialist species. Several species of fish were identified as indicative of the variable—stable hydrological gradient among stream sites. A taxonomic analysis showed strong geographic patterns in species composition of the 34 assemblages. However, zoogeographic constraints did not explain the observed relationship between stream hydrology and functional organization of fish assemblages. The strong hydrological—assemblage relations found in the 34 midwestern sites suggest that hydrological factors are significant environmental variables influencing fish assemblage structure, and that hydrological alterations induced by climate change (or other anthropogenic disturbances) could modify stream fish assemblages structure in this region.

Changes in soil phosphorus fractions and ecosystem dynamics across a long chronosequence in Hawaii.

Abstract: We tested the Walker and Syers (1976) conceptual model of soil development and its ecological implications by analyzing changes in soil P, vegetation, and other ecosystem properties on a soil chronosequence with six sites ranging in age from 300 yr to 4.1 x 10 6 yr. Climate, dominant vegetation, slope, and parent material of all of the sites were similar. As fractions of total P, the various pools of soil phosphorus behaved very much as predicted by Walker and Syers. HCl-extractable P (presumably primary mineral phosphates) comprised 82% of total P at the 300-yr-old site, and then decreased to 1% at the 20,000-yr-old site. Organic phosphorus increased from the youngest site to a maximum at the 150000 yr site, and then declined to the 4.1 x 10 6 yr site. Occluded (residual) P increased steadily with soil age. In contrast to the Walker and Syers model, we found the highest total P at the 150000-yr-old site, rather than at the onset of soil development, and we found that the non-occluded, inorganic P fraction persisted through to the oldest chronosequence site. Total soil N and C increased substantially from early to middle soil development in parallel with organic P, and then declined through to the oldest site. Readily available soil P, NH 4 + , and NO 3 - were measured using anion and cation exchange resin bags. P availability increased and decreased unimodally across the chronosequence. NH 4 + and NO 3 - pools increased through early soil development, but did not systematically decline late in soil development. In situ decomposition rates of Metrosideros polymorpha litter were highest at two intermediate-aged sites with high soil fertility (20000 yr and 150000 yr), and lowest at the less-fertile beginning (300 yr) and endpoint (4.1 x 10 6 yr) of the chronosequence. M. polymorpha leaves collected from these same four sites, and decomposed in a common site, suggested that leaves from intermediate-aged sites were inherently more decomposable than those from the youngest and oldest sites. Both litter tissue quality and the soil environment appeared to influence rates of decomposition directly. The highest mean soil N 2 O emissions (809 μg.m -2 .d -1 ) were measured at the 20 000-yr-old site, which also had the highest soil nitrogen fertility status. Plant communities at all six chronosequence sites were dominated primarily by M. polymorpha, and to a lesser extent by several other genera of trees and shrubs. There were, however, differences in overall vegetation community composition among the sites. Using a detrended correspondence analysis (DECORANA), we found that a high proportion of species variance among the sites (eigenvalue = 0.71) can be explained by site age and thus soil developmental stage. Overall, long-term soil development across the chronosequence largely coincides with the conceptual model of Walker and Syers (1976). How P is distributed among different organic and inorganic fractions at a given stage of soil development provides a useful context for evaluating contemporary cycling of P and other nutrients, and for determining how changes in P availability might affect diverse ecosystem processes.

Critical Thresholds in Species' Responses to Landscape Structure

Abstract: Critical thresholds are transition ranges across which small changes in spatial pattern produce abrupt shifts in ecological responses. Habitat fragmentation provides a familiar example of a critical threshold. As the landscape becomes dissected into smaller parcels of habitat. landscape connectivity-the functional linkage among habitat patches - may suddenly become disrupted, which may have important consequences for the distribution and persistence of populations. Landscape connectivity depends not only on the abundance and spatial patterning of habitat. but also on the habitat specificity and dispersal abilities of species. Habitat specialists with limited dispersal capabilities presumably have a much lower threshold to habitat fragmentation than highly vagile species, which may perceive the landscape as functionally connected across a greater range of fragmentation severity. To determine where threshold effects in species, responses to landscape structure are likely to occur, a simulation model modified from percolation theory was developed. Our simulations predicted the distributional patterns of populations in different landscape mosaics, which we tested empirically using two grasshopper species (Orthoptera: Acrididae) that occur in the shortgrass prairie of north-central Colorado. The distribution of these two species in this grassland mosaic matched the predictions from our simulations. By providing quantitative predictions of threshold effects, this modellingmore » approach may prove useful in the formulation of conservation strategies and assessment of land-use changes on species` distributional patterns and persistence.« less

Spatial Variation in Abundance

Abstract: To quantify the magnitude and pattern of spatial variation in local population density within a single species, we analyzed large numbers of samples, representing a large geographic area or a wide range of ecological conditions. Our analyses focused on, but were not limited to, censuses of birds recorded in the North American Breeding Bird Survey. Birds and other organisms exhibited a common pattern: each species was represented by only a few individuals in most of the sample sites where it occurred, but was orders of magnitude more abundant in a few "hot spots." The highly clumped frequency distributions of intraspecific abundance among sample sites resemble distributions, such as the negative binomial, canonical lognormal, and broken stick, that have been used to characterize the distribution of abundances among species within local ecological communities. We hypothesize that the spatial variation in abundance largely reflects the extent to which local sites satisfy the niche requirements of a species. Several results are consistent with this hypothesis. First, a computer simulation model in which abundance is determined by the multiplicative combination of several independent environmental variables produces ranked distributions of abundances similar to those observed empirically. Second, geographic patterns of abundance of bird species have been relatively stable over several decades, indicating that different abundances are associated with particular places on the landscape. Third, the abundance of bird species varies in a systematic way over the geographic range, exhibiting positive spatial autocorrelation at small distances and a tendency to increase from the edges toward the center of the range. The magnitude and pattern of spatial variation in local population density has important implications for basic ecology and biogeography, especially for the dynamics and regulation of abundance on both space and time, the limits and internal structure of the geographic range, and the interspecific variation in abundance observed within local communities. Patterns of spatial and temporal variation in abundance should be considered in the design of nature reserves and the conservation of biological diversity.

Patterns of Nutrient Loss from Unpolluted, Old‐Growth Temperate Forests: Evaluation of Biogeochemical Theory

Abstract: Atmospheric pollution and other human activities have altered natural ele- ment cycles over large regions of the world. Much current understanding of nutrient dy- namics in temperate region ecosystems has been derived from such biogeochemically altered areas. While it is increasingly difficult to find regions of temperate forest that can be classified as free from human influences, studies of unpolluted and undisturbed areas can (1) provide important "baseline" information about natural patterns of element cycling, against which disturbed cycles can be compared; (2) provide insights into the biogeochem- ical conditions that acted as evolutionary and selective constraints on biotic communities before the advent of regional-scale human impacts; and (3) provide an opportunity to evaluate the general nature of biogeochemical theories that have been developed in areas subject to strong human influences. We here report on patterns of hydrologic nutrient loss from old-growth temperate forest ecosystems in southern Chile based on chemical analyses of small streams draining 31 watersheds. These forests have not been subject to air pollution inputs and have remained floristically stable throughout the Holocene. For major elements our results support pre- dictions from current biogeochemical theory (the "nutrient retention hypothesis") that net biotic retention of elements should be minimal in old-growth forest ecosystems. Despite the dilute nature of watershed streams, the overall patterns of loss of most elements could be explained almost exclusively by atmospheric inputs of marine aerosols. In contrast, patterns of nitrogen loss were more complex than predicted by current conceptual models. Hydrologic N losses occurred nearly exclusively (95% of total N) as dissolved organic forms of nitrogen (DON), rather than as the inorganic forms NO3- (0.2% of total N) and NH4+ (4.8% of total N). The strong dominance of organic over inorganic losses of N indicates that losses of N from old-growth forest ecosystems are not exclusively subject to traditional mechanisms of direct biotic control (i.e., mineralization supply or biotic uptake), but are also subject to indirect biotic control associated with the long-term ac- cumulation, humification, and leaching of soil organic N during ecosystem succession. The view of unpolluted old-growth forests as "leaky" vs. "non-leaky" with respect to N depends on whether ecosystem budgets or models consider dissolved organic, as well as inorganic, forms of N. High- and mid-elevation forests in our study area showed the lowest efflux concentrations of N as NO3- reported from any old-growth temperate forest ecosystem (0.10 vs. 0.30 pg/L, respectively). Comparisons against other old-growth forests, subject to varying levels of N deposition, indicated that levels of NO3- and the relative abundance of NO3- vs. NH4+ in Northern Hemisphere forests may be strongly influenced by atmospheric N inputs. Our analyses suggest that patterns of N cycling, as well as evolutionary selective pressures on plant and microbial species, may have changed as a function of regional-scale increases in atmospheric N deposition to European and North American temperate forests. We hypothesize that, because they inherently are more poor than aggrading forests at retaining added nutrients, old-growth forest ecosystems are particularly sensitive indicators of N deposition.

The Niche Concept Revisited: Mechanistic Models and Community Context

Abstract: The niche concept is a central organizing aspect of modern ecology. Although its history has often been reviewed, the structure of the concept and its connection to advances in ecological theory has received less recent attention. I review the niche concept using “mechanistic” models of community theory to identify two distinct components. One describes the environmental requirements of organisms and the other describes the per capita impact of organisms on the environment. I argue that these correspond to significant differences between Grinnell's and Elton's concepts distinct from the previously discussed “habitat” vs. “functional” dichotomy. I illustrate the distinction between the requirement and impact components of the niche using models of resource competition and of keystone predators, and I discuss “Gause's axiom” and conventional “niche theory” in the context of these two distinct niche components. I suggest that the niche concept be elucidated by explicit reference to these two distinct components; the “impact” niche (corresponding to Elton's concept) describing instantaneous per—capita effects of species on the environment, and the “requirement” niche describing the responses of species to the environment (corresponding to Hutchinson's definition). This approach connects conventional niche theory with “mechanistic” individual—based ecological models and can help provide a more modern context for the niche concept.

The Relative Importance of Fuels and Weather on Fire Behavior in Subalpine Forests

Abstract: Surface fire intensity (kilowatts per metre) and crown fire initiation were predicted using Rothermel's 1972 and Van Wagner's 1977 fire models with fuel data from 47 upland subalpine conifer stands varying in age from 22-258 yr and 35 yr of daily weather data (fuel moisture and wind speeds). Rothermel's intensity model was divided into a fuel component variable and weather component variable, which were then used to examine the relative roles of fuel and weather on surface fire intensity (kilowatts per metre). Similar variables were defined in the crown fire initiation model of Van Wagner. Both surface fire intensity and crown fire initiation were strongly related to the weather com- ponents and weakly related to the fuel components, due to much greater variability in weather than fuel, and stronger relationship to the fire behavior mechanisms for weather than for fuel. Fire intensity was correlated to annual area burned; large area burned years had higher fire intensity predictions than smaller area burned years. The reason for this difference was attributed directly to the weather variable frequency distribution, which was shifted towards more extreme values in years in which large areas burned. During extreme weather conditions, the relative importance of fuels diminishes since all stands achieve the threshold required to permit crown fire development. This is important since most of the area burned in subalpine forests has historically occurred during very extreme weather (i.e., drought coupled to high winds). The fire behavior relationships predicted in the models support the concept that forest fire behavior is determined primarily by weather variation among years rather than fuel variation associated with stand age.

Use of Amazonian Forest Fragments by Understory Insectivorous Birds

Abstract: We sampled understory insectivorous birds in Amazonian forest fragments from before isolation through 9 yr after isolation. We accumulated 3658 mist net captures of 84 insectivorous species in five 1-ha fragments and four 10-ha fragments. Abundance and species richness declined dramatically after isolation, even though fragments were separated from continuous forest by only 70-650 m. Three species of obligate army ant followers disappeared within the first 2 yr after isolation. Mixed-species flocks containing 13 commonly netted species disintegrated within 2-3 yr after isolation, although three species that dropped out of flocks persisted in fragments. Among insectivores not associated with flocks or army ants, only two species of edge specialists were unaffected by frag- mentation. Overall, loss of forest insectivores was not compensated for by an increase in nonforest or previously uncommon species. Secondary vegetation surrounding fragments strongly affected use of fragments after isolation. Fragments surrounded by Vismia, the dominant regrowth where felled forest was burned and temporarily used as cattle pasture, remained depauperate. In contrast, many species returned to fragments by moving through regenerating forest dominated by Cec- ropia, which occurred in areas where the felled forest was not burned. Both 1- and 10-ha fragments surrounded by Cecropia were used by ant followers by 5 yr after isolation. Mixed-species flocks reassembled in 10-ha fragments surrounded by Cecropia by 7-9 yr after isolation, and augmented their group territories by foraging in secondary forest outside fragments. Solitary species were more variable in their responses, although several species returned to 10-ha fragments surrounded by Cecropia. Terrestrial insectivores, such as Scle- rurus leafscrapers and various antbirds, did not return to any fragments, and appear to be the group most vulnerable to fragmentation. Ordination of the insectivore community showed that 1-ha fragments diverged from their pre-isolation communities more than did 10-ha fragments. Communities in 10-ha fragments surrounded by Cecropia were more closely associated with pre-isolation com- munities than those in fragments surrounded by Vismia. Over time, communities in 10-ha fragments surrounded by Cecropia became more like pre-isolation communities, although communities in other fragments generally continued to diverge.

Social barriers to pathogen transmission in wild animal populations

Abstract: Diseases and pathogens are receiving increasing recognition as sources of mortality in animal populations Immune system strength is clearly important in fending off pathogen attack Physical barriers to pathogen entry are also important Various individual behaviors are efficacious in reducing contact with diseases and pests This paper focuses on a fourth mode of defense: social barriers to transmission Various social behaviors have pathogen transmission consequences Selective pressures on these social behaviors may therefore exist Effects on pathogen transmission of mating strategies, social avoidance, group size, group isolation, and other behaviors are explored It is concluded that many of these behaviors may have been affected by selection pressures to reduce transmission of pathogens 84 refs, 1 tab

Monotonic or unimodal diversity-productivity gradients : what does competition theory predict?

Abstract: This article discusses two types of proposed relationships between resource productivity and the diversity of coexisting consumer species. Monotonically increasing curves have recently been dismissed on both empirical and theoretical grounds, while unimodal ("hump—shaped") curves have been supported. Unimodal curves have been attributed to increased competitive exclusion, usually as the result of decreased heterogeneity in limiting resources at high productivities. This article argues that: (1) there are many viable mechanisms that can produce monotonic curves in the presence of competition; (2) there is little empirical support for any of the major variants of the hypothesis that productivity decreases heterogeneity, which increases competitive exclusion; and (3) there are alternative reasons for unimodal curves, some or all of which are consistent with previously observed productivity—diversity relationships. Additional theoretical and empirical work is required to understand what relationships are follow from different mechanisms of competition, and what relationships are most frequently observed under different observational protocols.

Light limitation in a stream ecosystem: responses by primary producers and consumers

Abstract: Heavy shade presents serious challenges for primary producers and food- limited herbivores in forest streams. In this study, we examined the response of periphyton and grazing snails (Elimia clavaeformis) to summer shade in White Oak Creek (WOC), a second-order stream in a Tennessee deciduous forest. Three experiments were performed: (1) in situ manipulation of light and snail density to test the effects of light limitation and grazing; (2) construction of photosynthesis-irradiance (P-I) curves to test for shade ad- aptation by periphyton; and (3) measurements of snail growth vs. irradiance, to quantify the indirect relationship between grazers and an abiotic constraint on photosynthesis. In the first experiment, light and snail densities were manipulated in a 2 X 2 factorial design: two light treatments were created by removing streamside vegetation from four sites in WOC and by pairing each of these sites with an adjacent, shaded site; two snail density treatments at each site were created by adding snails at normal (970 individuals/) and low (50 individuals/) density to the two sides of Plexiglas channels. Snails at normal densities cropped periphyton biomass to low levels regardless of light regime, but periphyton productivity was higher at the open sites where snails grew faster and accumulated more lipid. Snail growth and lipid accumulation were strongly affected by intraspecific com- petition in both light regimes. In the second experiment, photosynthesis-irradiance curves for periphyton from shaded and open sites illustrated considerable shade adaptation: shaded periphyton was 2 times more efficient at low irradiance than was periphyton from open sites. Despite the greater efficiency of shaded periphyton at low irradiance, integrated primary production estimated with photosynthetic models was 4 times greater in the open because shade adaptation provided only partial compensation for the very low irradiances in the shade. In the third experiment, in situ snail growth again increased with decreasing shade. The growth vs. irradiance response resembled a P-I curve: snail growth increased almost linearly with increased light and then leveled off at a photon flux density of -'~7 mol.m-2.d-l. If this curve primarily reflects rates of food supply, then periphyton production and grazer growth in WOC and similar streams is light-limited at a photon flux density <7 mol.m-2-d-'. Bottom-up effects of light limitation were propagated very strongly in WOC, where the invertebrate fauna is dominated by a grazer that appears to escape top-down control.

Regulation of Leaf Breakdown by Fungi in Streams: Influences of Water Chemistry

Abstract: We examined the influence of stream water chemistry on relationships between fungal activity and breakdown rates of yellow poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) leaves in eight streams that varied with respect to pH and nutrient (nitrate and phosphate) con- centrations. We also performed a reciprocal exchange experiment of leaves that had been colonized by microorganisms in two streams with contrasting water chemistries. Decom- poser activity varied greatly depending on the stream in which the leaves were placed. Variation in breakdown rates of yellow poplar leaves was over 9-fold maximum ATP concentrations associated with leaves varied as much as 8-fold, and maximum sporulation rates of fungi associated with leaves varied over 80-fold among streams. Among all streams, nitrate, phosphate, and temperature were positively correlated with one another and with decomposer biomass and activity. When hardwater streams were analyzed separately, nitrate concentration was the only variable that was significantly correlated with all measures of microbial activity and leaf breakdown. Consequently, nitrate concentration appeared to explain much of the variation we detected among streams. Responses to the reciprocal exchange experiment were rapid, with significant changes occurring within the first 5 d after the transfer. Leaves transferred from the hardwater stream containing relatively high concentrations of nitrate and phosphate to the softwater stream containing low concentra- tions of nutrients exhibited by large decreases in both ATP concentrations and sporulation rates, whereas ATP concentrations and sporulation rates increased when leaves received the reciprocal transfer. The fungi associated with decomposing leaves in streams appear to obtain a significant portion of their nutrients (e.g., nitrogen and phosphorus) from the water passing over the leaf surface. These results indicate that the chemistry of the water can be an important regulator of leaf breakdown in streams by affecting the activity of decomposer fungi.

Adaptive Radiation in Sticklebacks: Trade-Offs in Feeding Performance and Growth

Abstract: Divergent natural selection for efficient exploitation of alternative resources is thought to be a primary cause of adaptive radiation. I transplanted two recently diverged stickleback species (Gasterosteus sp.) and their Hybrids between habitats to test three predictions of this hypothesis: (1) the form of natural selection on feeding traits should differ between resource environments; (2) fitness trade-offs should occur between morphs specialized for different resources; (3) feeding efficiency should be the basis of fitness differences between morphs. Growth rate was used as a surrogate component of fitness. All three predictions were upheld. The larger of the two species (the Benthic), which has a larger mouth, deeper body, and fewer, shorter gill rakers than the second species (the Limnetic), had a twofold growth advantage in the littoral zone of the lake. This pattern was reversed in the open-water habitat, where the Limnetic species grew at double the rate of the Benthic. Hybrids, which are morphologically intermediate, tended to be intermediate in growth in both habitats. Growth rates were closely predicted by earlier laboratory mea- surements of feeding efficiency of the three forms in the same habitats, thus linking growth (and probably fitness) with feeding performance and morphology. I compare the strengths of the present approach with other methods that have been used to test the role of resources in adaptive radiation. I also argue that steep trade-offs in fitness along the littoral-open- water habitat gradient have two further consequences. First, they may cause Hybrids to have low fitness, allowing Benthics and Limnetics to coexist in the absence of perfect premating isolation between them. Second, they may promote ecological character dis- placement. Steep trade-offs may thus help explain why divergence along the littoral-open- water gradient is so common in fish that have colonized low-diversity lakes.

Effect of Inflorescence‐Feeding Insects on the Demography and Lifetime of a Native Plant

Abstract: The importance of herbivorous insects for plant demography and fitness is still controversial. The fact that their effect has not been fully evaluated within the context of the complete plant life cycle contributes to this controversy. This study is the first to test directly the influence of flower and seed consumption by a guild of inflorescence- feeding insects on the demography and fitness of a native plant over its whole life cycle within its natural environment. First, we discuss the evidence required to assess the effect of inflorescence-feeding insects on sequential stages in the plant life cycle. Then, we present the detailed results of two experiments that quantify the effect of inflorescence-feeding insects on seeds, seedlings, juveniles, and subsequent flowering progeny of Cirsium ca- nescens (Platte thistle), a native, monocarpic perennial species of Sandhills prairie, Ne- braska. Exclusion of inflorescence-feeding insects by insecticide had four main effects. Total seed output increased (P < 0.0005 in both experiments), indicating that resources were not limiting seed production. Flower heads produced later in the season contributed to the seed pool when insects were reduced (P < 0.01), suggesting that insect feeding restricted the phenology of flowering and pollination. The density of seedlings increased around plants protected from inflorescence-feeding insects (P < 0.0005), showing that safe sites were not limiting. Finally, the increase in seedlings led to higher numbers of flowering adults (P < 0.009), demonstrating that inflorescence-feeding insects significantly reduced lifetime fitness. Neither individual compensation for seed loss, nor density-dependent com- pensation for increased plant population densities, was observed when insects were ex- cluded. Thus, we conclude that the inflorescence-feeding insect herbivores limited seed production, seedling recruitment, plant density, and maternal fitness of this plant under natural conditions. This outcome challenges current theoretical models of the effect of insects on plant population dynamics. We predict that our result will be general for short- lived perennial plants with life histories in which persistence is tightly linked to regeneration from current seed, such as for fugitive perennials with transient seed banks.

Prey Refuges Affecting Interactions Between Piscivorous Perch and Juvenile Perch and Roach

Abstract: In size-structured populations, interactions are strongly dependent on size- specific foraging and anti-predator capacities of the organism. Conflicting size-specific selection pressures over the ontogeny often have different effects on different species leading to asymmetries in competitive and predator-prey interactions. Habitat complexity is likely to affect such asymmetric interactions due to species/size-specific competitive abilities in different habitats and due to the fact that habitat structural complexity may act differently as a prey refuge for different species. We experimentally analyzed the impact of a piscivorous predator (adult perch, Perca fluviatilis) on performance of juvenile perch and roach (Rutilus rutilus) at different levels of structural complexity (no structure, structure forming a partial refuge, and structure forming a complete refuge) in enclosures in an experimental pond. We measured predator diet and growth, prey fish habitat use, survival, diet and growth, and prey resource levels in different habitats. Prey fish (perch and roach) were found in the diet of piscivorous perch in no refuge and partial refuge treatments. Growth rate of the piscivorous perch decreased with increased refuge efficiency. Juvenile perch increased their proportional use of the structurally complex refuges in the presence of piscivorous perch and the survival increased with increased refuge efficiency (from partial to complete refuge). The diet of juvenile perch changed from predominantly cyclopoid copepods in the absence of predators to predominantly macroin- vertebrates in the presence of predators. There was no effect of predator-induced habitat restriction on growth of juvenile perch. Roach survival also increased with increased refuge efficiency in the presence of predators, and roach survival in the refuge treatments did not differ from each other or from the treatments with predators absent. Predator-induced habitat restriction in roach was associated with a decreased growth of roach. Our results suggest that, compared to juvenile roach, juvenile perch may compensate more for lost foraging opportunity in the open water via increased exploitation of structure- associated prey in refuges. As a result, predator-induced habitat shifts by juvenile perch and roach may alter competitive interactions between the species. On the other hand, structural complexity may form an almost complete refuge for juvenile roach from predators and thereby affect the predator-prey relationships between piscivorous perch and juvenile perch and roach to the advantage of juvenile roach. The demonstrated effects of structural complexity on competitive and predator-prey interactions between perch and roach can be related to the two species' distributions in lakes with different degrees of structural com- plexity.

Age and survivorship of diapausing eggs in a sediment egg bank

Abstract: We determined the densities of diapausing eggs of the copepod Diaptomus sanguineus in sediments from two small freshwater lakes in Rhode Island. Sediment cores, sliced at 1-cm intervals, showed that egg densities ranged between 4 X 10 4 and 8 x 10 4 eggs/m 2 near the sediment surface and declined to very low values at depths of 10-15 cm in both lakes, although eggs were found as deep as 30 cm in the sediment of one lake. Between 10 and 50% of these eggs hatched in short-term laboratory experiments, and actual egg viability is probably higher. 210 Pb-dating revealed relatively constant sedimentation rates in both lakes, and we use this information to estimate egg ages. In one lake, the mean diapausing-egg age is 70.4 yr (median age = 45.9 yr) and the maximum age of eggs we hatched was 332 yr. In the other lake, the mean egg age is 48.9 yr (median age = 35.9 yr) and the maximum age of eggs we hatched was 112 yr. We calculated egg mortality rates by regressing In(egg density) on the age of the sediment from which the eggs were taken to obtain estimates of 1.1 and 1.5% mortality/yr for the two lakes. Diapausing eggs of zooplankton represent a long-lived life history stage of an otherwise short-lived organism. They provide generation overlap that can have substantial significance for both ecological and evolutionary dynamics.

Diversity Patterns in Stream Benthic Invertebrate Communities: The Influence of Habitat Stability

Abstract: Invertebrate diversity patterns were examined in 11 freshwater habitats (10 streams and a windswept lake shore) of similar physicochemical nature but different thermal and hydrologic stability in the Cass-Craigieburn region, New Zealand. Species richness and density were markedly higher at the more stable sites, but species evenness peaked at sites of intermediate stability. Of the 20 environmental variables examined, a multivariate instability index incorporating temporal variation in depth, temporal variation in current speed, substrate stability, the Pfankuch channel stability index, temperature range, and stream reach tractive force was the single best predictor of the number of species, whereas epilithic pigment concentration was the single best predictor of invertebrate density. The pattern in species richness did not support any of three diversity hypotheses considered. In contrast, the pattern in species evenness suggested competitive exclusion may be occurring patchily and that Huston's dynamic equilibrium model may have some validity, at least at the level of the patch. However, the strong link between productivity and stability apparent in these habitats, and a lack of information on the effects of increased productivity on competition in stream benthic communities makes any firm assessment of the latter model difficult. The observed diversity patterns are, however, consistent with the idea that high diversity is maintained in these habitats by an interaction between low levels of disturbance and habitat patchiness.

Experimental Analysis of Intermediate Disturbance and Initial Floristic Composition: Decoupling Cause and Effect

Abstract: The intermediate disturbance hypothesis predicts that richness will be highest in communities with moderate levels of disturbance and at intermediate time spans following disturbance. This model was proposed as a nonequilibrium explanation of species richness in tropical forests and coral reefs. A second model of succession, initial floristic composition, states that nearly all species, including late seral species, are present at the start of suc- cession. This leads to the prediction that richness should be highest immediately following disturbance. We tested these predictions using plant species composition data from two long-term field experiments in North American tallgrass prairie vegetation. In contrast to one prediction of the intermediate disturbance hypothesis, there was a significant monotonic decline in species richness with increasing disturbance frequency, with no evidence of an optimum, in both field experiments. Species composition on an annually burned site was a subset of that of infrequently burned sites. The average number of species per quadrat and the number of grass, forb, and annual species were lowest on annually burned sites compared to unburned sites and sites burned once every 4 yr. The second prediction of the intermediate disturbance hypothesis, however, was supported. Richness reached a maximum at an intermediate time interval since the last disturbance. This contradicts the prediction from the initial floristic composition model of succession. These results also suggest that the two predictions of the intermediate disturbance hypothesis are independent and unre- lated. We propose that this may be explained by uncoupling the effects of disturbance as a single, relatively discrete event from system response to disturbance. From this perspec- tive, disturbance becomes an extinction-causing event in these grasslands, whereas recovery following disturbance is a balance between immigration and extinction.

Predator‐Induced Morphological Defenses: Costs, Life History Shifts, and Maternal Effects in Daphnia Pulex

Abstract: This study was designed to measure and separate the physiological costs of inducible defenses from life history trade—offs and maternal effects in the waterflea Daphnia pulex. Juveniles of D. pulex produce morphological changes ("neckteeth") and undergo life history shifts as defenses against predatory Chaoborus (phantom midge) larvae. These traits are induced by a chemical cue (kairomone) released by the predator. I performed life history experiments with and without Chaoborus kairomones at different food levels to quantify the induced changes and their potential physiological costs. The Daphnia clone used in this study also increased its body depth in response to the predator substance. Life history shifted toward a larger body size (both length and depth) and higher fecundity, which was balanced by an increased time to reach maturity and by increased adult instar durations. Reproductive effort was higher in the typical morph in the first adult instar, indicating resource allocation shifts towards growth in the protected morph. However, even in the absence of predation the chemically induced protected morph tended to show an increased intrinsic rate of population growth (r). The longer time to reach maturity was not a direct physiological cost of neckteeth production, but a trade—off for larger body size. The life history shifts are independent of neckteeth formation. Developmental mechanisms leading to life history changes occurred after neckteeth were induced and could thus be uncoupled from neckteeth formation and its direct costs. In this study no direct costs were found. Carbon incorporation rates for the two morphs, at high and low food, were not different. As a maternal effect, the large females of the induced morph produced larger neonates which, in turn, matured at a larger size. Morphological changes, life history shifts, and maternal effects acted in concert to form defenses against Chaoborus. This study shows that the often assumed high physiological costs resulting from the formation or maintenance of the defenses are not necessary to explain the evolution of inducible defenses. As morphological changes increase the visibility of Daphnia pulex, a fitness disadvantage can be caused by a changing predator regime (e.g., fish). The results of this study suggest that environments with changing predator selectivities favor the evolution of inducible defenses.

Gene flow and larval duration in seven species of fish from the great barrier reef

Abstract: The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is a continental archipelagic system of 5000 reefs and shoals stretching >2000 km along the east Australia coast. The interconnectivity of these reefs should determine the choice of biological management units, which for most biota will reflect the dispersal of their eggs and/or larvae. A comparative approach using population genetics was used to ask whether the along-shore dispersal of coral reef fishes is influenced by the duration of this mobile phase. Seven species of coral reef fish, selected from three families to provide a range of taxonomic diversity and pelagic larval durations, were tested for genetic homogeneity between two regions of the GBR separated by 1000 km. A spectrum of potential dispersal capabilities was analyzed from that of Acanthochromis polyacanthus, a damselfish with brood care that uniquely lacks pelagic larvae, to that of Ctenochaetus striatus, a surgeonfish with large, specialized larvae that spend several months in the plankton. A total of 19 enzyme systems and general proteins were examined from multiple populations in each region to provide a base of 32 loci for these comparisons. With one exception, species sampled from different coral reefs within regions showed statistically significant heterogeneities across multiple loci, indicative of chaotic genetic patchiness among the samples. The exception was an anemonefish, Amphiprion melanopus, that had to be collected from large areas on each reef because of its low densities. The homogeneity of allele frequencies at local scales for this species suggests that the genetic patchiness observed in others may be a within-reef phenomenon that was manifested at the reef scale by our pseudoreplicated sampling strategy. After pooling local variability, all but two species showed significant regional differ- ences. The exceptions were the pair (Ctenochaetus striatus, Pterocaesio chrysozona) with the longest larval durations. Acanthochromis polyacanthus showed increased variation at this larger scale, consistent with a major stock division between the two regions. The logarithm of genetic variation between northern and southern populations (measured by Weir and Cockerham's Fst)was correlated with mean larval duration by an inverse linear relationship that explained 85% of the variance in the global data set. Comparison with an outgroup (Amphiprion melanopus from the Chesterfield Reefs, 1000 km east in the Coral Sea) confirmed the genetic cohesion of mainland populations for the species with shortest larval duration and shows that our empirical relationship applies only within the context of the highly connected GBR. On this basis, calculations of gene flow (Nem, the number of effective migrants per generation) between geographic regions predict panmixis for species with larval durations exceeding 1 mo. Many common species have shorter dispersal times, from which classical "isolation-by-distance" models predict differentiation between northern and southern pop- ulations at genetic equilibrium. Given that modern populations on the GBR are <10000 yr old, however, there has not been sufficient time for such differences to evolve in situ and we consider alternative scenarios for the observed heterogeneities. Comparisons with invertebrate taxa sampled over the same spatial scales imply lower gene flows in fish despite longer pelagic durations. This suggests that fish larvae may use their greater mobility to retard, rather than enhance, dispersal due to hydrodynamic advection.

Interaction Between Food Availability and Predation Mortality Mediated by Adaptive Behavior

Abstract: Increased activity rates in larval anurans rates are associated with both higher growth rates and higher predation mortality. Models of adaptive foraging behavior in the face of predation risk predict that at higher resource levels, foraging activity should be reduced. Thus, at higher resource levels predation mortality should also be reduced. We manipulated the resources available to Rana catesbeiana tadpoles and then measured the activity of tadpoles in the presence of caged dragonfly larvae and the mortality rate of the tadpoles when the dragonflies were free to forage. At low food levels the tadpoles moved more often and more quickly. Similarly, at low food levels the tadpoles suffered higher predation mortality. The dependence of predation mortality on resources available to prey underlines the futility of characterizing population regulation as being due to predation or resources. Adaptive variation in behavior responds to both pressures simultaneously. These results suggest the possibility that adaptive variation in behavior may lead to density—dependent population regulation. Density—dependent depletion of resources by prey should lead to increased activity levels, which will result in higher per capita predation rates. The generality of the trade—off between growth rate and mortality rate argues that this mechanism may be widespread. If adaptive variation in behavior is as widespread as it appears, incorporating this variation into population dynamic modelling may improve our ability to predict the outcome of interactions within ecological communities.

Population Consequences of Predation-Sensitive Foraging: The Serengeti Wildebeest

Abstract: The "predation-sensitive food" (PSF) hypothesis proposes that both food and predation necessarily limit populations, because as food becomes limiting animals take greater risks to obtain more food, and some of these are killed. Alternative hypotheses are "predator regulation" where predators hold the prey population well below starvation levels; and "surplus" predation where predators kill only those prey that are excluded from optimal habitat and are dying from starvation. The predictions from these hypotheses were tested by examining body condition of Serengeti wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) over 24 yr (1968-1991). Two phases of population growth were examined: 1968-1973 when the population was increasing with superabundant food; and 1977-1991 when the population was stationary and regulated by intraspecific competition for food. Three categories of data were compared: live animals, predation kills, and nonpredation deaths. Body condition was measured from bone marrow, the last reserves of fat in ungulates. The predator regulation hypothesis predicts that the marrow condition should be similar in the predation and live samples. The surplus hy- pothesis predicts the predation and nonpredation samples should be similar. The PSF hy- pothesis predicts that marrow condition of the predation sample should be (1) poorer than that of the live sample, (2) better than that of the nonpredation sample, and (3) better when food is limiting than when it is abundant. Analyses of the frequency distribution of marrow categories showed that both the pre- dation and nonpredation samples were significantly poorer than that of the live population. In both increase and stationary phases of population growth, the predation sample was in better condition than the nonpredation sample. The predation sample was not quite sig- nificantly better (P = 0.052) when food was limiting. These results are consistent with the PSF hypothesis and inconsistent with both of the alternative hypotheses. Female and male condition was similar in the predation sample, but females were killed at a younger age. Lions and hyenas killed animals in similar condition, but lions took animals at a younger age. The results suggest that (1) body condition affects the vulnerability of individual wildebeest to predation, and (2) predation jointly limits the population with intraspecific competition by removing animals from the population that are in better condition than those that are starving.

Interactions between individual plant species and soil nutrient status in shortgrass steppe

Abstract: The effect of plant community structure on nutrient cycling is fundamental to our understanding of ecosystem function. We examined the importance of plant species and plant cover (i.e., plant covered microsites vs. bare soil) on nutrient cycling in shortgrass steppe of northeastern Colorado. We tested the effects of both plant species and cover on soils in an area of undisturbed shortgrass steppe and an area that had undergone nitrogen and water additions from 1971 to 1974, resulting in significant shifts in plant species composition. Soils under plants had consistently higher C and N mineralization rates and, in some cases, higher total and microbial C and N levels than soils without plant cover. Four native grasses, one sedge, and one shrub differed from one another in the quantity and quality of above- and belowground biomass but differences among the six species in soil nutrient cycling under their canopies were slight. However, soils under bunchgrasses tended to have higher C mineralization and microbial biomass C than soil under the rhizomatous grass, Agropyron smithii. Also, the one introduced annual in the study, Kochia scoparia, had soils with less plant-induced heterogeneity and higher rates of C and N mineralization as well as higher levels of microbial biomass C than soils associated with the other species. This species was abundant only on plots that had received water and nitrogen for a 4-yr period that ended 20 yr ago, where it has persisted in the absence of resource additions for 20 yr, suggesting a positive feedback between plant persistence and soil nutrient status. Plant cover patterns had larger effects on ecosystem scale estimates of soil properties than the attributes of a particular plant species. This result may be due to the semiarid nature of this grassland in which plant cover is discontinuous and decomposition and nutrient availability are primarily limited by water, not by plant species-mediated characteristics such as litter quality. That local plant-induced patterns in soil properties significantly af- fected ecosystem scale estimates of these properties indicates that consideration of structural attributes, particularly plant cover patterns, is critical to estimates of ecosystem function in shortgrass steppe.

Seasonal Decline in Reproductive Success of the Great Tit: Variation in Time or Quality?

Abstract: Seasonal variation in reproductive success is a common feature of most organisms. To understand the evolution of breeding seasons and reproductive strategies of individual animals, it is necessary to assess the extent to which seasonal variation in reproductive success is causally related to seasonal variation in the environment ('timing' hypothesis), to differences in quality between early and late breeders or their territories ('quality' hypothesis), or to a combination of both. We manipulated timing of breeding in the Great Tit Parus major, a small passerine, to test these hypotheses. A group of experimentally delayed birds was created by removing first clutches, inducing birds to lay a replacement clutch. Reproductive success of delayed pairs was compared with control pairs that bred early and with pairs that bred late. We conclude that seasonal declines in reproductive success at the nestling stage and survival of adult females were caused by differences in quality between early and late breeders. Recruitment of fledglings into the breeding population and the occurrence of second clutches were causally related to the timing of breeding. The seasonal decline in clutch size was caused by a combination of timing and quality effects. We attempted to assess the relative importance of timing and quality in the seasonal decline in reproductive success, expressed as lifetime production of recruits. We tentatively conclude that 87% of the seasonal decline in lifetime reproductive success could be attributed to a timing effect per se, whereas quality differences between early and late breeders accounted for the remaining 13%.

Causes and Ecosystem Consequences of Multiple Pathways of Primary Succession at Glacier Bay, Alaska

Abstract: The classic account of primary succession inferred from a 220—yr glacial retreat chronosequence at Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska was compared to reconstructions of stand development based on tree—ring records from 850 trees at 10 sites of different age. The three oldest sites (deglaciated prior to 1840) differ from all younger sites in the early recruitment of Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis), the presence of western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), and the inferred importance of early shrub thickets. The nitrogen—fixing shrub Sitka alder (Alnus sinuata) has been an important and long—lived species only at sites deglaciated since 1840. Black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) has been an overstory dominant only at sites deglaciated since 1900. These single—species additions or replacements distinguish three pathways of vegetation compositional change which are segregated spatially and temporally. The communities of different age at Glacier Bay do not constitute a single chronosequence and should not be used uncritically to infer long—term successional trends. Among—site differences in texture and lithology of soil parent material cannot account for the multiple pathways. However, distance from each study site to the closest seed source of Sitka spruce at the time of deglaciation explains up to 58% of the among—site variance in early spruce recruitment. Multiple pathways of compositional change at Glacier Bay appear to be a function of landscape context, which, in conjuction with species life history traits (dispersal capability and generation time), affects seed rain to newly deglaciated surfaces and thereby alters the arrival sequence of species. Differences among the pathways probably include long—term differences in ecosystem function resulting from substantial accumulation of nitrogen at sites where nitrogen—fixing shrubs are important.

Carbon Isotope Dynamics During Grass Decomposition and Soil Organic Matter Formation

Abstract: We analyzed changes in the stable C isotope composition (s3'C) of bulk tissues and lignin fractions during a 2-yr decomposition study in east-central Minnesota (USA) of aboveground and belowground litter from four perennial grass species: Schiza- chyrium scoparium (C4), Agropyron repens (C3), Poa pratensis (C3), and Agrostis scabra (C3). Although lignin concentrations increased for all litter types during decomposition and lignin fractions were consistently depleted in '3C compared to bulk tissues (3.6%o more negative on average), we found neither convergence of bulk tissue sl3C values towards lignin s13C values, nor greater stability of sl3C values for lignin fractions. Furthermore, s'3C values of C3 and C4 species shifted in opposite directions during decomposition. Thus, our data do not support the hypothesis that s'3C values decrease during decomposition because of the selective preservation of lignin and we instead suggest that isotopic shifts are caused by the incorporation of new C from soil organic matter into litter by microbial decomposers. We estimate that this new C comprised 12-19% of the total litter C, depending on species, at the point of 70% mass loss. In monocultures of these four species plus another C4 grass (Andropogon gerardi) growing on initially homogeneous soils with a predominantly C3 isotopic signature, soil s'3C values increased 1.6-2.2%o for the C4 species and remained relatively unchanged for the C3 species after 4 yr. Averaging across the C4 species and the experimental soil organic matter gradient, 14% of the total soil C in these plots must be new C4 C to account for this isotopic shift. We estimate that this amount of new soil C equals 30% of NPP summed over 4 yr in these plots.

Low-Level Forest Disturbance Effects on Primary Production, Leaf Chemistry, and Lemur Populations

Abstract: This study quantifies the effects of low—intensity logging (affecting < 10% of the forest surface) on leaf chemistry, leaf and fruit production, and their effects on lemurs in a dry deciduous forest in western Madagascar. Logging exposed the remaining trees to more sunlight. Within a single tree among trees, this resulted in higher protein concentrations in sun—exposed leaves, while fiber content remained constant. Concentrations of condensed tannins were also higher at higher sun exposure, but they leveled off at lower light intensities before protein and sugar concentrations. Within the 2—yr study period, crown extension due to higher availability of sunlight could compensate only for parts of the crown area lost due to logging. Thus, the biomass of leaves available was reduced, while average leaf quality (measured as the ratio of protein to fiber) increased. Fruit production was also positively correlated with sun exposure to the tree crown. Since fruits of the main timber trees (Commiphora spp.) are rarely consumed by frugivorous lemurs, removal of these trees increases sun exposure of other potential food trees for frugivores. At the described level of logging intensity, sightings of all lemur species increased (significantly in three out of seven species at P < 0.05) compared to the pre—logging state and two control plots. This increase was attributed to increased fruit production and higher protein concentration in sun—exposed leaves. In natural forests, treefall gaps may have effects similar to those of logging in the present study. Low level disturbances, in general, may be important for the carrying capacity for folivorous and frugivorous lemurs and possibly for most primates.