Maintenance of positive diversity-stability relations along a gradient of environmental stress.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Environmental stress is widely considered to be an important factor in regulating whether changes in diversity will affect the functioning and stability of ecological communities.

Methodology/principal findings

We investigated the effects of a major environmental stressor (a decrease in water volume) on diversity-abundance and diversity-stability relations in laboratory microcosms composed of temperate multi-trophic rock pool communities to identify differences in community and functional group responses to increasing functional group richness along a gradient of environmental stress (low, medium, and high water volume). When a greater number of functional groups were present, communities were less temporally variable and achieved higher abundances. The stabilizin

SUBMITTER: Romanuk TN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2860506 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature