Dynamics of distribution in animal communities: Theory and analysis
- 1 December 1992
- journal article
- Published by Wiley in Population Ecology
- Vol. 34 (2) , 249-273
- https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02514796
Abstract
Summary: Theoretical and analytical problems of the dynamics of distribution and abundance in animal communities were examined. In many communities, species with low abundance and of limited spatial occurrence (i.e., rare species) typically form a conspicuous peak when a frequency distribution of the number of species is constructed with respect to the proportion of sites occupied within an area of distribution. Models of distribution dynamics, including a new model proposed here, were compared with a range of animal community data using a new procedure to assess single‐ and bi‐modal patterns in frequency distributions of spatial occurrence. Data reveal that single‐modality with an excess of rare species occurs more frequently than bimodality. Even when bimodality is detected, the mode representing wide‐spread species is in the majority of cases smaller than that for rare species. Thus, a new model in which the rate of local extinctions is assumed to be negatively related to patch occupancy (or population abundance) is in better agreement with observed data than earlier models. Some problems of analysis, in particular model assumptions and testing, are discussed.Keywords
This publication has 47 references indexed in Scilit:
- Importance of Spatial and Temporal Dynamics in Species Regional Abundance and DistributionEcology, 1991
- A Hierarchical Analysis of Species' Abundance Patterns in Grassland VegetationThe American Naturalist, 1990
- Insect Herbivores on Bracken Do Not Support the Core-Satellite HypothesisThe American Naturalist, 1989
- Random Patch Formation and Weak Competition: Coexistence in an Epiphytic Chironomid CommunityJournal of Animal Ecology, 1987
- The Distribution and Abundance of Tallgrass Prairie Plants: A Test of the Core-Satellite HypothesisThe American Naturalist, 1987
- Population dynamics, life histories and species richness in an epiphytic chironomid communityFreshwater Biology, 1986
- Resource Utilization, Overlap and Temporal Community Dynamics: A Null Model Analysis of an Epiphytic Chironomid CommunityJournal of Animal Ecology, 1986
- Pseudo‐Lognormal DistributionsEcology, 1981
- Crustacean Plankton Communities in Forty-Five Lakes in the Experimental Lakes Area, Northwestern OntarioJournal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada, 1971
- CONGENERIC OCCURRENCES OF SPECIES OF DIAPTOMUS IN SOUTHERN ONTARIO LAKESCanadian Journal of Zoology, 1967