Regular, localized disturbances permit coexistence by continually providing habitat for the poor competitor (e.g., Debout et al., 2009). The superior colonizer (but poor competitor) quickly occupies the empty sites and holds them until the superior competitor arrives. Disturbance periodically kills off local populations of the superior competitor, and for a brief time those sites or patches are empty. The superior competitors have low colonizing abilities, and the better colonizers are poor competitors. In this mechanism, competing species differ in their competitive abilities and ability to colonize new habitat patches. Spatial structure and heterogeneity through time are also necessary for the coexistence by the competition–colonization trade-off ( Tilman, 1994). Habitat heterogeneity within and among patches promotes coexistence. Coexistence can be achieved by niche partitioning when species specialize on different habitats or resources. Spatial heterogeneity is one of the principal explanations for the coexistence of competing species ( Amarasekare, 2003) in community ecology. When predators are abundant, refugia prevent them from driving their prey to extinction. “Refugia” are habitats (or microhabitats) where preys are relatively safe from predators. Conversely, spatial complexity can promote coexistence between predators and prey. Moreover, landscape structure influences the movement patterns of different predator species so that the risk of encountering a specific predator species depends on the precise location in the landscape ( Bergin et al., 2000). Predation rates increase as patch sizes decline and the landscape-wide abundance of nonforest habitats increases. In breeding birds of forests, nest predation rates are affected by both landscape-level and within-patch habitat patterns ( Lloyd et al., 2005). All species interact with predators, parasites, competitors, and so on as the biotic portion of their environment. Interspecific interactions are important determinants of population dynamics, and landscape structure can influence these interactions. Pearson, in Encyclopedia of Biodiversity (Second Edition), 2013 Landscape Structure and Interspecific Interactions
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |