Space and patchiness affects diversity-function relationships in fungal decay communities.

ABSTRACT: The space in which organisms live determines health and physicality, shaping the way in which they interact with their peers. Space, therefore, is critically important for species diversity and the function performed by individuals within mixed communities. The biotic and abiotic factors defined by the space that organisms occupy are ecologically significant and the difficulty in quantifying space-defined parameters within complex systems limits the study of ecological processes. Here, we overcome this problem using a tractable system whereby spatial heterogeneity in interacting fungal wood decay communities demonstrates that scale and patchiness of territory directly influence coexistence dynamics. Spatial arrangement in 2- and 3-dimensions resulted in measurable metabolic differences tha

SUBMITTER: O'Leary J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8027639 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature