The humpbacked species richness-curve: A contingent rule for community ecology
International Journal of Ecology
By: John H. Graham and Jeffrey J. Duda
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Abstract
Functional relationships involving species richness may be unimodal, monotonically increasing, monotonically decreasing, bimodal, multimodal, U-shaped, or with no discernable pattern. The unimodal relationships are the most interesting because they suggest dynamic, nonequilibrium community processes. For that reason, they are also contentious. In this paper, we provide a wide-ranging review of the literature on unimodal (humpbacked) species richness-relationships. Though not as widespread as previously thought, unimodal patterns of species richness are often associated with disturbance, predation and herbivory, productivity, spatial heterogeneity, environmental gradients, time, and latitude. These unimodal patterns are contingent on organism and environment; we examine unimodal species richness-curves involving plants, invertebrates, vertebrates, plankton, and microbes in marine, lacustrine, and terrestrial habitats. A goal of future research is to understand the contingent patterns and the complex, interacting processes that generate them.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | The humpbacked species richness-curve: A contingent rule for community ecology |
| Series title | International Journal of Ecology |
| DOI | 10.1155/2011/868426 |
| Volume | 2011 |
| Issue | 868426 |
| Year Published | 2011 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Hindawi Publishing Corporation |
| Contributing office(s) | Western Fisheries Research Center |
| Description | 15 p. |
| Larger Work Type | Article |
| Larger Work Subtype | Journal Article |
| Larger Work Title | International Journal of Ecology |
| Country | United States |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |