Effects of grouping behavior and predators on the spatial distribution of a forest floor arthropod

Spatial aggregations arising from social behavior or habitat patchiness are common in nature and have important implications for population dynamics, community stability, and conservation. Distinguishing between these behavioral and environmental causes of pattern is of general interest to spatial e...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecology (Durham) 2005-04, Vol.86 (4), p.960-971
Main Authors: Grear, Jason S., Schmitz, Oswald J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aggregation
aggregation behavior
Animal behavior
Animal ecology
Animal populations
Animal traps
Araneae
Arthropods
Collembola
congregation
diffusion
dispersal
Distribution
Ecology
Entomobryidae
environmental factors
forest litter
Gladicosa
habitat fragmentation
litter
Lycosidae
movement
Orchesella
Orchesella hexfasciata
patch
Predation
predator
Predators
soil arthropods
Soil ecology
Soil water
spatial distribution
Spiders
Water treatment
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Summary:Spatial aggregations arising from social behavior or habitat patchiness are common in nature and have important implications for population dynamics, community stability, and conservation. Distinguishing between these behavioral and environmental causes of pattern is of general interest to spatial ecologists and continues to be a key unresolved issue. Despite the importance of this problem, systematic approaches for resolving the underlying mechanisms are not well developed. We demonstrate here the value of a three-tiered systematic approach involving descriptive spatial sampling, individual-based observation and diffusion modeling, and manipulative field experiments. We used this approach to test social- vs. habitat-driven hypotheses explaining spatial aggregation in the collembolan Orchesella hexfasciata. Our results show that aggregation is a gregarious behavior triggered by seasonal increases in soil moisture. Initial field observations suggested that aggregation was habitat driven and associated with soil moisture, but individual-based observations and modeling revealed that moisture was only a triggering mechanism for socially driven aggregation. This was corroborated in field experiments by testing hypotheses that were motivated by the individual-based analyses. Thus, the three-tiered approach led to a more complete understanding of aggregation than would any single technique.
ISSN:0012-9658
1939-9170
DOI:10.1890/04-1509