Journal ArticleDOI
The hierarchical nature of community persistence: a problem of scale
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In this paper, a community is judged most stable when the absolute abundance of each species remains constant over time, while the abundance of individual species fluctuates, but abundance rankings remain constant.Abstract:
Community persistence exists within a hierarchical framework wherein the numerical scale of analysis can influence judgments about the stability of assemblages. Numerical resolution refers to whether data are analyzed in terms of the absolute abundances of species, abundance rankings, or species' presence and absence. A community would be judged most stable when the absolute abundance of each species remains constant over time. At a lower level of stability, the abundance of individual species fluctuates, but abundance rankings remain constant over time. An even lower level of stability would involve assemblages in which both the absolute abundances and the abundance rankings of species fluctuate, but the same species are always present. The least stable condition would occur when even the presence and absence of species are unpredictable over time. Analysis of simulated communities showed that assemblages may be judged stable at some levels within this hierarchy but not at others; thus, statements about ...read more
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From balance of nature to hierarchical patch dynamics: A paradigm shift in ecology
Jianguo Wu,Orie L. Loucks +1 more
TL;DR: The more recent concepts of point equilibrium and static stability, which characterize the classical equilibrium paradigm in ecology, are traceable to the assumptions implicit in "balance of nature" as mentioned in this paper, which has failed not only because equilibrium conditions are rare in nature, but also because of our past inability to incorporate heterogeneity and scale multiplicity into our quantitative expressions for stability.
Journal ArticleDOI
Functional Organization of Stream Fish Assemblages in Relation to Hydrological Variability
N. LeRoy Poff,J. David Allan +1 more
TL;DR: The strong hydrological—assemblage relations found in the 34 midwestern sites suggest thatHydrological factors are significant environmental variables influencing fish assemblage structure, and that hydrology alterations induced by climate change (or other anthropogenic disturbances) could modify stream fishassemblages structure in this region.
What controls who is where in freshwater fish communities — the roles of biotic, abiotic, and
TL;DR: Evidence for the structuring of fish communities from stream and lake systems and the roles of biotic, abiotic, and spatial factors in determining the species composition are examined.
Journal ArticleDOI
What controls who is where in freshwater fish communities the roles of biotic, abiotic, and spatial factors
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine evidence for the structuring of fish communities from stream and lake systems and the roles of biotic, abiotic, and spatial factors in determining the species composition.
Journal ArticleDOI
Babel, or the ecological stability discussions: an inventory and analysis of terminology and a guide for avoiding confusion.
Volker Grimm,Christian Wissel +1 more
TL;DR: A strategy is derived that can help to dispel the existing ”confusion of tongues” on the subject of ”stability” and prevent its future recurrence, and consists of three questions that should be kept in mind when communicating about stability properties.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Resilience and Stability of Ecological Systems
TL;DR: The traditional view of natural systems, therefore, might well be less a meaningful reality than a perceptual convenience.
Book
Multivariate analysis in community ecology
TL;DR: The results can be used to improve the quality of education, research and teaching in the classroom, as well asrouse new ideas about how to teach and motivate people to learn.
Journal ArticleDOI
On the Evidence Needed to Judge Ecological Stability or Persistence
Joseph H. Connell,Wayne P. Sousa +1 more
TL;DR: An analysis of census data from many long-term studies revealed a continuum of temporal variability in the dynamics of natural populations and communities, with no evidence of multiple stable states in unexploited natural populations or communities.