Resources alter the structure and increase stochasticity in bromeliad microfauna communities.

ABSTRACT: Although stochastic and deterministic processes have been found to jointly shape structure of natural communities, the relative importance of both forces may vary across different environmental conditions and across levels of biological organization. We tested the effects of abiotic environmental conditions, altered trophic interactions and dispersal limitation on the structure of aquatic microfauna communities in Costa Rican tank bromeliads. Our approach combined natural gradients in environmental conditions with experimental manipulations of bottom-up interactions (resources), top-down interactions (predators) and dispersal at two spatial scales in the field. We found that resource addition strongly increased the abundance and reduced the richness of microfauna communities. Community com

SUBMITTER: Petermann JS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4361661 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature