Interaction Diversity Maintains Resiliency in a Frequently Disturbed Ecosystem
Loading...
Authors
Dell, Jane E.
Salcido, Danielle M.
Lumpkin, Will
Richards, Lora A.
Pokswinski, Scott M.
Loudermilk, E. Louise
O'Brien, Joseph J.
Dyer, Lee A.
Issue Date
2019
Type
Article
Language
Keywords
interaction diversity , tri-trophic interaction , resilience , response diversity , scale-dependency , Pinus palustris , prescribed fire
Alternative Title
Abstract
Frequently disturbed ecosystems are characterized by resilience to ecological disturbances. Longleaf pine ecosystems are not only resilient to frequent fire disturbance, but this feature sustains biodiversity. We examined how fire frequency maintains beta diversity of multi-trophic interactions in longleaf pine ecosystems, as this community property provides a measure of functional redundancy of an ecosystem. We found that beta interaction diversity at small local scales is highest in the most frequently burned stands, conferring immediate resiliency to disturbance by fire. Interactions become more specialized and less resilient as fire frequency decreases. Local scale patterns of interaction diversity contribute to broader scale patterns and confer long-termecosystem resiliency. Such natural disturbances are likely to be important for maintaining regional diversity of interactions for a broad range of ecosystems.
Description
Citation
Dell, J. E., Salcido, D. M., Lumpkin, W., Richards, L. A., Pokswinski, S. M., Loudermilk, E. L., … Dyer, L. A. (2019). Interaction Diversity Maintains Resiliency in a Frequently Disturbed Ecosystem. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 7. doi:10.3389/fevo.2019.00145
Publisher
License
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Journal
Volume
Issue
PubMed ID
ISSN
2296-701X