Multiple Assembly Rules Drive the Co-occurrence of Orthopteran and Plant Species in Grasslands: Combining Network, Functional and Phylogenetic Approaches.

ABSTRACT: Understanding the factors underlying the co-occurrence of multiple species remains a challenge in ecology. Biotic interactions, environmental filtering and neutral processes are among the main mechanisms evoked to explain species co-occurrence. However, they are most often studied separately or even considered as mutually exclusive. This likely hampers a more global understanding of species assembly. Here, we investigate the general hypothesis that the structure of co-occurrence networks results from multiple assembly rules and its potential implications for grassland ecosystems. We surveyed orthopteran and plant communities in 48 permanent grasslands of the French Jura Mountains and gathered functional and phylogenetic data for all species. We constructed a network of plant and orthoptera

SUBMITTER: Fournier B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4987333 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature