Topic
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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TL;DR: The need for researchers to consider carefully the definition of BH and recognize that documenting taxonomic homogenization requires tracking the identity of species (not species richness) comprising biotas through space and time is cited.
Abstract: Ongoing species invasions and extinctions are changing biological diversity in different ways at different spatial scales. Biotic homogenization (or BH) refers to the process by which the genetic, taxonomic or functional similarities of regional biotas increase over time. It is a multifaceted process that encompasses species invasions, extinctions and environmental alterations, focusing on how the identities of species (or their genetic or functional attributes) change over space and time. Despite the increasing use of the term BH in conservation biology, it is often used erroneously as a synonym for patterns of species invasions, loss of native species or changes in species richness through time. This reflects the absence of an agreed-upon, cogent definition of BH. Here, we offer an operational definition for BH and review the various methodologies used to study this process. We identify the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches, and make explicit recommendations for future studies. We conclude by citing the need for researchers to: (1) consider carefully the definition of BH by recognizing the genetic, taxonomic and functional realms of this process; (2) recognize that documenting taxonomic homogenization requires tracking the identity of species (not species richness) comprising biotas through space and time; and (3) employ more rigorous methods for quantifying BH.
618 citations
25 Jun 1998
TL;DR: In this article, the authors compared the performance of various estimation techniques within individual sites as well as across a range of sites differing in successional status and in woody species abundance and spatial distribution.
Abstract: The study of plant communities requires a basic understanding of the abundance, distribution, and number of species present Yet, in obtaining this information, scientists can rarely sample the entire community or area of interest In practice, data from numerous small sub-samples provide a basis for extrapolating to a larger area, Such extrapolating must take into account the well-supported observation that estimates of local species richness depend strongly on the number of individuals and the area sampled (Gleason, 1922; Preston, 1948) Although researchers must rely heavily on extrapolations for many kinds of ecological studies, relatively little attention has been focused on improving the accuracy, applicability, and accessibility of species-richness estimators in vegetation studies, particularly in higly diverse tropical ecosystems If robuts and accurate statistical estimators of species richness that are reasonably insensitive to sample size can be found, they can serve to provide a quantitative basis for identifying conservation priorities, for comparative biogeographic or regional studies, and for assessing long-term changes in species richness Bunge and Fitzpatrick (1993) and Colwell and Coddington (1994) provided a broad overview of statistical approaches for estimating species richness form samples Here, we evaluated the performance of several of these methods in estimating species richness of young woody regeneration in six tropical forest sites We compared the performance of various estimation techniques within individual sites as well as across a range of sites differing in successional status and in woody species abundance and spatial distribution We focused specifically on two size classes of wood regeneration: 1) established seedlings 1m in height, but
615 citations
TL;DR: It is shown that a set of ponds of small size has more species and has a higher conservation value than a single large pond of the same total area, and that large ponds harbour species missing in the smaller ponds.
615 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors proposed a landscape management perspective for conservation biological control in agroecosystems, where most arthropod species experience their habitat at spatial scales beyond the plot level, and there is spillover of natural enemies across the crop-noncrop interface.
615 citations
TL;DR: This work synthesizes recent empirical results concerning the effects of habitat edges on population dynamics with contemporary theoretical developments to outline the ways in which species interactions, and the dynamics of the communities in which they are embedded, can be changed by habitat edges.
Abstract: Traditionally, ecologists interested in habitat edges have focused on edge‐related gradients in patterns of species richness or abiotic variables. Here, however, we take a different perspective, attempting to synthesize recent empirical results concerning the effects of habitat edges on population dynamics with contemporary theoretical developments to outline the ways in which species interactions, and the dynamics of the communities in which they are embedded, can be changed by habitat edges. We find a striking convergence between empirical notions of a patch's core area and analytical results from partial differential equation models. A review of both empirical and theoretical studies suggests four general classes of mechanisms through which habitat edges can have similar impacts on dissimilar types of species interactions. Specifically, we focus on edges' roles as dispersal barriers or filters, edges' influences on mortality, edges' involvement in spatial subsidies (in which dispersers' intra...
615 citations