Aboveground and belowground arthropods experience different relative influences of stochastic versus deterministic community assembly processes following disturbance.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Understanding patterns of biodiversity is a longstanding challenge in ecology. Similar to other biotic groups, arthropod community structure can be shaped by deterministic and stochastic processes, with limited understanding of what moderates the relative influence of these processes. Disturbances have been noted to alter the relative influence of deterministic and stochastic processes on community assembly in various study systems, implicating ecological disturbances as a potential moderator of these forces.

Methods

Using a disturbance gradient along a 5-year chronosequence of insect-induced tree mortality in a subalpine forest of the southern Rocky Mountains, Colorado, USA, we examined changes in community structure and relative influences of deterministic and s

SUBMITTER: Ferrenberg S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5068348 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature