Individual size variation reduces spatial variation in abundance of tree community assemblage, not of tree populations.

ABSTRACT: Research on individual trait variation has gained much attention because of its implication for ecosystem functions and community ecology. The effect of individual variation on population and community abundance (number of individuals) variation remains scarcely tested. Using two established ecological scaling laws (Taylor's law and abundance-size relationship), we derived a new scaling relationship between the individual size variation and spatial variation of abundance. Tested against multi-plot tree data from Diaoluo Mountain tropical forest in Hainan, China, the new scaling relationship showed that individual size variation reduced the spatial variation of community assemblage abundance, but not of taxon-specific population abundance. The different responses of community and population

SUBMITTER: Wang HF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5743614 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature