Integrating the underlying structure of stochasticity into community ecology.

ABSTRACT: Stochasticity is a core component of ecology, as it underlies key processes that structure and create variability in nature. Despite its fundamental importance in ecological systems, the concept is often treated as synonymous with unpredictability in community ecology, and studies tend to focus on single forms of stochasticity rather than taking a more holistic view. This has led to multiple narratives for how stochasticity mediates community dynamics. Here, we present a framework that describes how different forms of stochasticity (notably demographic and environmental stochasticity) combine to provide underlying and predictable structure in diverse communities. This framework builds on the deep ecological understanding of stochastic processes acting at individual and population levels an

SUBMITTER: Shoemaker LG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7027466 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature