A basic community dynamics experiment: Disentangling deterministic and stochastic processes in structuring ecological communities. Issue 12 (4th December 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Jewell, Mark Davidson; Bell, Graham
• Is Part Of: Ecology and evolution. Volume 12:Issue 12(2022)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2022-12-04
• Subjects: community dynamics -- ecological drift -- Lemnaceae -- neutral -- niche -- species coexistence; Ecology -- Periodicals; Evolution -- Periodicals; 577.05
• DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9568
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2045-7758

Abstract

Abstract: Community dynamics are governed by two opposed processes: species sorting, which produces deterministic dynamics leading to an equilibrium state, and ecological drift, which produces stochastic dynamics. Despite a great deal of theoretical and empirical work aiming to demonstrate the predominance of one or the other of these processes, the importance of drift in structuring communities and maintaining species diversity remains contested. Here, we present the results of a basic community dynamics experiment using floating aquatic plants, designed to measure the relative contributions of species sorting and ecological drift to community change over about a dozen generations. We found that species sorting became overwhelmingly dominant as the experiment progressed, and directed communities toward a stable equilibrium state maintained by negative frequency‐dependent selection. The dynamics of any particular species depended on how far its initial frequency was from its equilibrium frequency, however, and consequently the balance of sorting and drift varied among species. Abstract : Community dynamics are governed by two opposed processes: species sorting, which produces deterministic dynamics leading to an equilibrium state, and ecological drift, which produces stochastic dynamics. Here, we report a basic ecological dynamics experiment using floating aquatic plants designed to quantify the relative contributions of these processes to community change.