new application of storage dynamics: Differential sensitivity, diffuse competition, and temporal niches

We have developed our recent demonstration that a temporal niche axis may support the stable coexistence of tree species. We previously applied a two-species lottery model assuming differences between species in environmental sensitivity to generate the predictions that the better competitor will sh...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecology (Durham) 2005-04, Vol.86 (4), p.1012-1022
Main Authors: Kelly, Colleen K., Bowler, Michael G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Archives
Biodiversity
community structure
competitive advantage
Ecological competition
Ecological modeling
focused competition
forest dynamics
Forest ecology
Habitats
Lotteries
mathematical models
plant competition
Plant ecology
Plant populations
Population ecology
Species
species coexistence
Synecology
Trees
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Summary:We have developed our recent demonstration that a temporal niche axis may support the stable coexistence of tree species. We previously applied a two-species lottery model assuming differences between species in environmental sensitivity to generate the predictions that the better competitor will show greater fluctuation in recruitment and be the less common species, predictions supported unanimously by data from a Mexican deciduous forest. Here, we expand on that model and explore the implication from our earlier study that competition among tree species may be focused, rather than the more commonly assumed diffuse, by applying a version of the model dealing with diffuse competition. We found focused competition to be the better explanation of the available data. Our results constitute a serious challenge to the entrenched opinion that competition among tree species is diffuse and to the proposition that competition may be unimportant in structuring tree communities. Another component of the earlier work was the comparison of closely related species. Although species may be ecologically similar for reasons other than phylogenetic relatedness, the additional underlying genetic similarity and the shared evolutionary history of close relatives makes them good candidates for the processes driving storage dynamics. We draw on the Gentry data set to show that congeneric species cooccur in plant communities in all habitat types worldwide, indicating that the dynamics we describe may take place in almost any community containing woody species, in any part of the world.
ISSN:0012-9658
1939-9170
DOI:10.1890/04-0091