The Role of Observation Scales, Trait Correlations, and Competitive Regimes in Community Assembly Patterns.

ABSTRACT: Inferring assembly processes from empirical community diversity patterns has long been a central goal in Ecology. Many studies rely on the "filtering framework," which characterizes community assembly as a sequence of abiotic and competitive interactions. The framework's success stems from its theoretical foundation, linking environmental filtering to niche theory and competitive interactions to coexistence theory. Empirical studies have provided substantial evidence for environmental filtering across diverse ecosystems. However, despite the ubiquity of competitive interactions, empirical applications of the filtering framework have rarely detected significant competition effects. Consequently, the framework has been criticized as overly simplistic. We argue that this imbalance arises from

SUBMITTER: Rohr M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12019707 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature