Perturbations alter community convergence, divergence, and formation of multiple community states

Ecology
Gregory R HousemanKatherine L Gross

Abstract

Environmental perturbations (e.g., disturbance, fertilization) commonly shift communities to a new mean state, but much less is known about their effects on the variability (dispersion) of communities around the mean, particularly when perturbations are combined. Community dispersion may increase or decrease (representing a divergence or convergence among communities) if changing environmental conditions alter species interactions or magnify small initial differences that develop during community assembly. We used data from an experimental study of disturbance and fertilization in a low-productivity grassland to test how these two perturbations affect patterns of species composition and abundance. We found that a one-time biomass reduction decreased community dispersion, which persisted over four growing seasons. Conversely, continuous fertilization increased community dispersion and, when combined with disturbance, led to the formation of three distinct community states. These results illustrate that perturbations can have differing effects on community dispersion. Attention to the variance in community responses to perturbations lends insight into how ecological interactions determine community structure, which may be missed ...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jun 26, 2009·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Simon F ThrushMariachiara Chiantore
Mar 11, 2015·Environmental Pollution·C Sanz-LázaroI Karakassis
Feb 20, 2014·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Jizhong ZhouAdam P Arkin
Oct 22, 2015·Ecological Applications : a Publication of the Ecological Society of America·Yuting LiangGuanghe Li
Mar 14, 2020·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Kelly GravuerSusan P Harrison
Jun 22, 2018·The Science of the Total Environment·Candice Y LumibaoSunshine A Van Bael
Jul 16, 2019·The Science of the Total Environment·S Henrik BarmentloMartina G Vijver

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