scholarly journals The inherent multidimensionality of temporal variability: How common and rare species shape stability patterns

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-François Arnoldi ◽  
Michel Loreau ◽  
Bart Haegeman
Keyword(s):  
Rare Species ◽  
Temporal Variability ◽  
Species Abundance ◽  
Common Species ◽  
Ecological Communities ◽  
Shape Stability ◽  
Abundance Pattern ◽  
Stochastic Perturbations ◽  
Environmental Perturbations ◽  
Stability Concepts

AbstractEmpirical knowledge of ecosystem stability and diversity-stability relationships is mostly based on the analysis of temporal variability of population and ecosystem properties. Variability, however, often depends on external factors that act as disturbances, making it difficult to compare its value across systems and relate it to other stability concepts. Here we show how variability, when viewed as a response to stochastic perturbations, can reveal inherent stability properties of ecological communities, with clear connections with other stability notions. This requires abandoning one-dimensional representations, in which a single variability measurement is taken as a proxy for how stable a system is, and instead consider the whole set of variability values associated to a given community, reflecting the whole set of perturbations that can generate variability. Against the vertiginous dimensionality of the perturbation set, we show that a generic variability-abundance pattern emerges from community assembly, which relates variability to the abundance of perturbed species. As a consequence, the response to stochastic immigration is governed by rare species while common species drive the response to environmental perturbations. In particular, the contrasting contributions of different species abundance classes can lead to opposite diversity-stability patterns, which can be understood from basic statistics of the abundance distribution. Our work shows that a multidimensional perspective on variability allows one to better appreciate the dynamical richness of ecological systems and the underlying meaning of their stability patterns.

scholarly journals Do persistent rare species experience stronger negative frequency dependence than common species?

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenda Yenni ◽  
Peter Adler ◽  
Morgan Ernest
Keyword(s):  
Frequency Dependence ◽  
Relative Abundance ◽  
Rare Species ◽  
Species Abundance ◽  
Common Species ◽  
Ecological Communities ◽  
Significant Challenge ◽  
Theoretical Pattern ◽  
Taxonomic Groups ◽  
Natural Communities

Understanding why so many species are rare yet persistent remains a significant challenge for both theoretical and empirical ecologists. Yenni, Adler, and Ernest (2012) proposed that strong negative frequency dependence causes species to be rare while simultaneously buffering them against extinction. This hypothesis predicts that, on average, rare species should experience stronger negative frequency dependence than common species. However, it is unknown if ecological communities generally show this theoretical pattern, or if rarity is primarily determined by other processes that overwhelm the effects of strong negative frequency dependence. We discuss the implications of this mechanism for natural communities, and develop a method to test for a non-random relationship between negative frequency dependence and relative abundance, using species abundance data from 90 communities across a broad range of environments and taxonomic groups. To account for biases introduced by measurement error, we compared the observed correlation between species relative abundance and the strength of frequency dependence against expectations from a randomization procedure. In approximately half of the analyzed communities, rare species showed disproportionately strong negative frequency dependence compared to common species. Specifically, we found a pattern of increasingly strong negative frequency dependence with decreasing relative abundance. Our results suggest that strong negative frequency dependence is a signature of both rarity and persistence for many species in many communities.

scholarly journals The inherent multidimensionality of temporal variability: how common and rare species shape stability patterns

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (10) ◽  
pp. 1557-1567 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean‐François Arnoldi ◽  
Michel Loreau ◽  
Bart Haegeman
Keyword(s):  
Rare Species ◽  
Temporal Variability ◽  
Shape Stability

scholarly journals Abundance distribution of common and rare plant species of Brazilian savannas along a seasonality gradient

2010 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 407-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Igor Aurélio Silva ◽  
Marcus Vinicius Cianciaruso ◽  
Marco Antônio Batalha
Keyword(s):  
Plant Communities ◽  
Rare Species ◽  
Species Abundance ◽  
Common Species ◽  
Rare Plants ◽  
Abundance Distribution ◽  
Wet Grassland ◽  
Composite Models ◽  
Random Assortment ◽  
The Common

We examined the species abundance distribution (SAD) of plant communities in: (1) a wet grassland, waterlogged throughout most of the year; (2) a seasonal savanna, with an annual dry season; and (3) a hyperseasonal savanna, with alternating drought and waterlogging over the year. We searched for differences in the abundance distributions of all species, as well as of the common and rare species. We tested whether the SADs fitted the lognormal, log-series, power fraction, and random assortment models. We found that environmental constraints may reduce the evenness of plant communities and change the SADs in savannas. We observed a lognormal abundance distribution in the wet grassland and a random abundance distribution in the hyperseasonal cerrado. The SAD of the seasonal savanna did not follow any model. The common species in the three communities were better fitted by the lognormal model. The rare species in the wet grassland and the hyperseasonal cerrado were better fitted by the random assortment model. The SAD of the rare species of the seasonal savanna did not follow any model. Seasonality seems to modify the lognormal distribution of the overall plant community, generating abundance distributions indistinguishable from random. However, differential community structuring between common and rare species may not be affected by seasonality. The different signatures of the abundance distributions of common and rare plants indicate that composite models are better predictors for SADs in savannas.

scholarly journals Fuzzy Quantification of Common and Rare Species in Ecological Communities (FuzzyQ)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan A. Balbuena ◽  
Clara Montlleó ◽  
Cristina Llopis-Belenguer ◽  
Isabel Blasco-Costa ◽  
Volodimir L. Sarabeev ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rare Species ◽  
Clustering Algorithm ◽  
Species Abundance ◽  
R Package ◽  
Ecological Communities ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Species Abundance Distributions ◽  
The Common ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
The Impact

Abstract1. Most species in ecological communities are rare whereas only a few are common. This distributional paradox has intrigued ecologists for decades but the interpretation of species abundance distributions remains elusive.2. We present Fuzzy Quantification of Common and Rare Species in Ecological Communities (FuzzyQ) as an R package. FuzzyQ shifts the focus from the prevailing species-categorization approach to develop a quantitative framework that seeks to place each species along a rare-commonness gradient. Given a community surveyed over a number of sites, quadrats, or any other convenient sampling unit, FuzzyQ uses a fuzzy clustering algorithm that estimates a probability for each species to be common or rare based on abundance-occupancy information. Such as probability can be interpreted as a commonness index ranging from 0 to 1. FuzzyQ also provides community-level metrics about the coherence of the allocation of species into the common and rare clusters that are informative of the nature of the community under study.3. The functionality of FuzzyQ is shown with two real datasets. We demonstrate how FuzzyQ can effectively be used to monitor and model spatio-temporal changes in species commonness, and assess the impact of species introductions on ecological communities. We also show that the approach works satisfactorily with a wide range of communities varying in species richness, dispersion and abundance currencies.4. FuzzyQ produces ecological indicators easy to measure and interpret that can give both clear, actionable insights into the nature of ecological communities and provides a powerful way to monitor environmental change on ecosystems. Comparison among communities is greatly facilitated by the fact that the method is relatively independent of the number of sites or sampling units considered. Thus, we consider FuzzyQ as a potentially valuable analytical tool in community ecology and conservation biology.

scholarly journals THE MOST ABUNDANCE AND THE VERY RARE SPECIES IN THE DEEP SEA FISH COMMUNITY IN THE WESTERN SUMATERA, EASTERN INDIAN OCEAN

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
Badrudin Badrudin ◽  
Duto Nugroho ◽  
Ali Suman
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Rare Species ◽  
Deep Sea ◽  
Fish Community ◽  
Species Abundance ◽  
Eastern Indian Ocean ◽  
Ecological Communities ◽  
Sea Fish

Variation in species abundance provides one of the striking phenomena observed in ecological communities. This variation has led ecologists to pose central questions pertaining to the nature of communities. Most of the deep sea regions provide the most widely habitat, but until recently information on its community is very little.

First data on plasmodial slime moulds (Myxomycetes = Myxogastrea) of Rdeysky Nature Reserve (Novgorod Region, Russia)

2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 361-377
Author(s):  
N. I. Borzov ◽  
F. M. Bortnikov ◽  
A. V. Matveev ◽  
V. I. Gmoshinskiy
Keyword(s):  
Species Diversity ◽  
Rare Species ◽  
Nature Reserve ◽  
Common Species ◽  
Slime Moulds ◽  
State Nature Reserve ◽  
Plasmodial Slime Moulds ◽  
State Nature

The results of the first study of the species diversity of myxomycetes of the Rdeysky State Nature Reserve are presented. The 201 field specimens of sporophores belonging to 56 morphospecies from 27 genera, ten families, and six orders were collected from September 30 to October 5, 2020. Fifty-two species of these were new for the Novgorod Region. The most common species at the reserve were Arcyria affinis, Hemitrichia calyculata, Lycogala epidendrum, Metatrichia vesparia, Physarum album, Trichia decipiens, and T. varia. Additionally, detailed morphological descriptions of two rare species Amaurochaete trechispora and Trichia crateriformis are given.

scholarly journals Locally rare species influence grassland ecosystem multifunctionality

2016 ◽  
Vol 371 (1694) ◽  
pp. 20150269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Santiago Soliveres ◽  
Peter Manning ◽  
Daniel Prati ◽  
Martin M. Gossner ◽  
Fabian Alt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Rare Species ◽  
Common Species ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Conservation Priorities ◽  
Below Ground ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Ecosystem Multifunctionality

Species diversity promotes the delivery of multiple ecosystem functions (multifunctionality). However, the relative functional importance of rare and common species in driving the biodiversity–multifunctionality relationship remains unknown. We studied the relationship between the diversity of rare and common species (according to their local abundances and across nine different trophic groups), and multifunctionality indices derived from 14 ecosystem functions on 150 grasslands across a land-use intensity (LUI) gradient. The diversity of above- and below-ground rare species had opposite effects, with rare above-ground species being associated with high levels of multifunctionality, probably because their effects on different functions did not trade off against each other. Conversely, common species were only related to average, not high, levels of multifunctionality, and their functional effects declined with LUI. Apart from the community-level effects of diversity, we found significant positive associations between the abundance of individual species and multifunctionality in 6% of the species tested. Species-specific functional effects were best predicted by their response to LUI: species that declined in abundance with land use intensification were those associated with higher levels of multifunctionality. Our results highlight the importance of rare species for ecosystem multifunctionality and help guiding future conservation priorities.

scholarly journals Ecology of sandflies (Diptera: Psychodidae) in a restricted focus of cutaneous leishmaniasis en Northern Venezuela: I. Description of the study area, catching methods and species composition

1987 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Dora Feliciangeli
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Cutaneous Leishmaniasis ◽  
Relative Abundance ◽  
Rare Species ◽  
Common Species ◽  
Term Study ◽  
Phlebotomine Sandfly ◽  
Phlebotomine Sandflies ◽  
The Common ◽  
Catching Methods

A study on the ecology of phlebotomine sandfly fauna in a restricted focus of cutaneous leishmaniasis in northern Venezuela was undertaken in order to investigate the species responsible for the transmission. The study area and catching methods for phlebotomine sandflies are described. A total of 9,061 females and 1,662 males were collected during a year-term study. 12 species of Lutzomya and 1 species of Brumptomya sp. were identified. Absolute and relative abundance and ocurrence for each species were determined. The rel ative occurrence allowed to distinguish the common species, viz. L. panamensis, L. ovallesi, L. gomezi, L. tinidadensis, L. atroclavata, L. cayennensis, L. shannoni and L. olmeca bicolor from the rare species vis., L. punctigeniculata, L. rangeliana, L. evansi and L. dubitans. General comments on the species composition of the sandfly fauna in this locality are made.

scholarly journals The commonness of rarity: Global and future distribution of rarity across land plants

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Joseph Enquist ◽  
Xiao Feng ◽  
Bradley Boyle ◽  
Brian Maitner ◽  
Erica A. Newman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Rare Species ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
Neutral Theory ◽  
Species Abundance ◽  
Land Plant ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
Heavy Tailed Distributions ◽  
Species Abundance Distributions ◽  
Heavy Tailed

A key feature of life’s diversity is that some species are common but many more are rare. Nonetheless, at global scales, we do not know what fraction of biodiversity consists of rare species. Here, we present the largest compilation of global plant species observation data in order to quantify the fraction of Earth’s extant land plant biodiversity that is common versus rare. Tests of different hypotheses for the origin of species commonness and rarity indicates that sampling biases and prominent models such as niche theory and neutral theory cannot account for the observed prevalence of rare species. Instead, the distribution of commonness is best approximated by heavy-tailed distributions like the Pareto or Poisson-lognormal distributions. As a result, a large fraction, ~36.5% of an estimated ~435k total plant species, are exceedingly rare. We also show that rare species tend to cluster in a small number of ‘hotspots’ mainly characterized by being in tropical and subtropical mountains and areas that have experienced greater climate stability. Our results indicate that (i) non-neutral processes, likely associated with reduced risk of extinction, have maintained a large fraction of Earth’s plant species but that (ii) climate change and human impact appear to now and will disproportionately impact rare species. Together, these results point to a large fraction of Earth’s plant species are faced with increased chances of extinction. Our results indicate that global species abundance distributions have important implications for conservation planning in this era of rapid global change.

scholarly journals Inferring True Species Richness and Complete Abundance Distribution in Six Reef-fish Communities from Red-sea, Using the Numerical Extrapolation of Incomplete Samplings

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Jean Beguinot
Keyword(s):  
Reef Fish ◽  
Red Sea ◽  
Field Data ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Species Abundance ◽  
Fish Communities ◽  
Ecological Communities ◽  
Abundance Distribution ◽  
Internal Organization ◽  
Unrecorded Species

Even when ecological communities are incompletely sampled (which is most frequent in practice, at least for species-rich assemblages including many rare species), it remains possible to retrieve much more information than could be expected first, by applying numerical extrapolation to incomplete field data. Indeed, recently developed procedures of numerical extrapolation of partial samplings now allow to estimate, with fair accuracy, not only the number of the still unrecorded species but, moreover, the distribution of abundances of each of these unrecorded species, thereby making available the full range of the Species Abundance Distribution, despite dealing with incomplete data only. In turn, this allows to address a series of descriptive and functional aspects of the internal organization of species assemblages, which otherwise would have required disposing of truly exhaustive samplings. This approach is applied, here, to the previously reported partial samplings of six neighboring reef-fish communities from Tiran Island, Red Sea, with the goal of better understanding their internal organization in relation to their respective environments. In practice, the numerical completion contributes to avoid erroneous interpretations that would likely stem from considering only the incomplete field data. This point is especially relevant when studying reef-associated communities because accurate understanding of their organization will help guiding and refining at best the protective measures required by these particularly vulnerable communities.

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