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Species richness

About: Species richness is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 61672 publications have been published within this topic receiving 2183796 citations.


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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is found that high functional diversity reduced the success of Centaurea by reducing resource availability, and communities with fewer species may be more likely to decline as a consequence of invasion.
Abstract: In the years since Charles Elton proposed that more diverse communities should be less susceptible to invasion by exotic species, empirical studies have both supported and refuted Elton's hypothesis. Here, I use grassland community microcosms to test the effect of functional diversity on the success of an invasive annual weed (Centaurea solstitialis L.). I found that high functional diversity reduced the success of Centaurea by reducing resource availability. An equally important, but unstudied, question is whether diversity can buffer a community against the impacts of invasive species. In this experiment, although species diversity (independent of functional diversity) did not affect the success of the invader, the invader suppressed growth of species-poor communities more strongly. Invasion of Centaurea also increased summer evapotranspiration in species-poor communities. These results suggest that loss of species diversity alone does not affect community invasibility, but that communities with fewer species may be more likely to decline as a consequence of invasion.

303 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The plateau pika should be managed in concert with other uses of the land to ensure preservation of China’s native biodiversity, as well as long-term sustainable use of the pastureland by domestic livestock.
Abstract: It is necessary to look at the big picture when managing biological resources on the Qinghai‐Xizang (Tibetan) plateau. Plateau pikas (Ochotona curzoniae) are poisoned widely across the plateau. Putative reasons for these control measures are that pika populations may reach high densities and correspondingly reduce forage for domestic livestock (yak, sheep, horses), and because they may be responsible for habitat degradation. In contrast, we highlight the important role the plateau pika plays as a keystone species in the Tibetan plateau ecosystem. The plateau pika is a keystone species because it: (i) makes burrows that are the primary homes to a wide variety of small birds and lizards; (ii) creates microhabitat disturbance that results in an increase in plant species richness; (iii) serves as the principal prey for nearly all of the plateau’s predator species; (iv) contributes positively to ecosystem-level dynamics. The plateau pika should be managed in concert with other uses of the land to ensure preservation of China’s native biodiversity, as well as long-term sustainable use of the pastureland by domestic livestock.

302 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The lognormal distribution deserves greater consideration as a richness estimator when undersampling bias is severe, and should be the default null hypothesis for singleton frequencies.
Abstract: Summary 1. Frequency of singletons ‐ species represented by single individuals ‐ is anomalously high in most large tropical arthropod surveys (average, 32%). 2. We sampled 5965 adult spiders of 352 species (29% singletons) from 1 ha of lowland tropical moist forest in Guyana. 3. Four common hypotheses (small body size, male-biased sex ratio, cryptic habits, clumped distributions) failed to explain singleton frequency. Singletons are larger than other species, not gender-biased, share no particular lifestyle, and are not clumped at 0·25‐1 ha scales. 4. Monte Carlo simulation of the best-fit lognormal community shows that the observed data fit a random sample from a community of ~700 species and 1‐2 million individuals, implying approximately 4% true singleton frequency. 5. Undersampling causes systematic negative bias of species richness, and should be the default null hypothesis for singleton frequencies. 6. Drastically greater sampling intensity in tropical arthropod inventory studies is required to yield realistic species richness estimates. 7. The lognormal distribution deserves greater consideration as a richness estimator when undersampling bias is severe.

302 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jun 1994-Oikos
TL;DR: This study examined the relationship between species richness and biomass for 36 marsh communities from two different watersheds and measured several environmental variables and estimated the potential richness for each community.
Abstract: Several studies have used plant community biomass to predict species richness with varying success. In this study we examined the relationship between species richness and biomass for 36 marsh communities from two different watersheds. In addition, we measured several environmental variables and estimated the potential richness (the total number of species known to be able to occur in a community type) for each community. Above-ground living and dead biomass combined was found to be weakly correlated with species richness (R 2 = 0.02). Instead, a multiple regression model based on elevation (R 2 = 0.30) soil organic matter (R 2 = 0.18), and biomass was able to explain 82 % of the variance in species richness (...)

302 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In species-rich mixed dipterocarp rain forest in Indonesian Borneo, weaker associations with habitat for seedlings than for trees suggest higher mortality of seedlings in ‘suboptimal’ habitats.
Abstract: Summary 1 In species-rich mixed dipterocarp rain forest in Indonesian Borneo, we evaluated evidence for tree species associations with physical habitat variables (physiography for adults and seedlings, and light for seedlings). A total of 325 species were included in the analysis. 2 A stratified random sample of 28 tree and seedling plots (0.16 ha and 36 m2, respectively) was taken from a 150-ha study area on homogeneous parent rock (granite) between 110 and 270 m a.s.l. 3 In a principal component analysis (PCA), based on an abundance index of all tree species, plots segregated into three groups. These corresponded closely with the three physiographically defined habitat types assigned in the field: (i) plateaux with a deep humus layer, (ii) sharp ridges and upper slopes, and (iii) gullies and lower slopes near permanent streams. Segregation of plots by habitat was weaker when seedling (rather than tree) species abundance was used in the PCA. 4 In single species analyses, using Monte Carlo randomization tests, we found significant associations with the three physiographic habitat types in 17 out of 49 abundant species for trees, and in 5 out of 22 abundant species for seedlings. In PCA and single species analyses, weaker associations with habitat for seedlings than for trees suggest higher mortality of seedlings in ‘suboptimal’ habitats. 5 Seedlings of 8 out of 45 abundant species were also significantly and positively associated with high light availability (measured in 2 × 2 m subplots, using hemispherical photographs). 6 Combining light and physiographic habitat associations, 20 out of the 45 abundant species were associated with at least one habitat factor as either adults or seedlings. 7 Thus, the distributions and abundances of many species are influenced by local heterogeneity in physical habitat variables. However, about half of the abundant species (25 of 45) showed no significant habitat association as adults or seedlings, and in no case did the relative abundance of any species exceed 5% in its ‘preferred’ habitat.

301 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
20243
20232,454
20225,118
20213,510
20203,287
20193,254