Disturbance by large herbivores alters the relative importance of the ecological processes that influence the assembly pattern in heterogeneous meta-communities.

ABSTRACT: Disturbance caused by large herbivores can affect the relative importance of ecological processes in determining community assembly and may cause a systematic loss of biodiversity across scales. To examine changes in the community assembly pattern caused by an overabundance of large herbivores in Japan, we analyzed community composition data from before and after the overabundance occurred. The community assembly pattern becomes more random after the deer overabundance. In addition, result of variation partitioning revealed decrease in importance of environmental processes and increase in importance of spatial processes. However, response of turnover rate, niche breadth, and niche overlap was heterogeneous, according to scale of each environmental gradient. Our results emphasize the import

SUBMITTER: Ohashi H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3967902 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature