Importance of neutral processes varies in time and space: Evidence from dryland stream ecosystems.

ABSTRACT: Many ecosystems experience strong temporal variability in environmental conditions; yet, a clear picture of how niche and neutral processes operate to determine community assembly in temporally variable systems remains elusive. In this study, we constructed neutral metacommunity models to assess the relative importance of neutral processes in a spatially and temporally variable ecosystem. We analyzed macroinvertebrate community data spanning multiple seasons and years from 20 sites in a Sonoran Desert river network in Arizona. The model goodness-of-fit was used to infer the importance of neutral processes. Averaging over eight stream flow conditions across three years, we found that neutral processes were more important in perennial streams than in non-perennial streams (intermittent and e

SUBMITTER: Dong X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5423606 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature