The emergent interactions that govern biodiversity change.

ABSTRACT: Observational studies have not yet shown that environmental variables can explain pervasive nonlinear patterns of species abundance, because those patterns could result from (indirect) interactions with other species (e.g., competition), and models only estimate direct responses. The experiments that could extract these indirect effects at regional to continental scales are not feasible. Here, a biophysical approach quantifies environment- species interactions (ESI) that govern community change from field data. Just as species interactions depend on population abundances, so too do the effects of environment, as when drought is amplified by competition. By embedding dynamic ESI within framework that admits data gathered on different scales, we quantify responses that are induced indirectly

SUBMITTER: Clark JS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7382255 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature