The challenges that spatial context present for synthesizing community ecology across scales

Accurately characterizing spatial patterns on landscapes is necessary to understand the processes that generate biodiversity, a problem that has applications in ecological theory, conservation planning, ecosystem restoration, and ecosystem management. However, the measurement of biodiversity pattern...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Oikos 2019-03, Vol.128 (3), p.297-308
Main Authors: Patrick, Christopher J., Yuan, Lester L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aquatic communities
Biodiversity
Communities
Community ecology
Data smoothing
Datasets
Ecological effects
Ecological monitoring
Ecological studies
Ecology
Ecosystem management
Ecosystem restoration
Ecosystems
Environmental restoration
Frameworks
Geography
Landscape
metacommunity
Neighborhoods
Resampling
Restoration
spatial scale
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Summary:Accurately characterizing spatial patterns on landscapes is necessary to understand the processes that generate biodiversity, a problem that has applications in ecological theory, conservation planning, ecosystem restoration, and ecosystem management. However, the measurement of biodiversity patterns and the ecological and evolutionary processes that underlie those patterns is highly dependent on the study unit size, boundary placement, and number of observations. These issues, together known as the modifiable areal unit problem, are well known in geography. These factors limit the degree to which results from different metacommunity and macro‐ecological studies can be compared to draw new inferences, and yet these types of comparisons are widespread in community ecology. Using aquatic community datasets, we demonstrate that spatial context drives analytical results when landscapes are sub‐divided. Next, we present a framework for using resampling and neighborhood smoothing to standardize datasets to allow for inferential comparisons. We then provide examples for how addressing these issues enhances our ability to understand the processes shaping ecological communities at landscape scales and allows for informative meta‐analytical synthesis. We conclude by calling for greater recognition of issues derived from the modifiable areal unit problem in community ecology, discuss implications of the problem for interpreting the existing literature, and identify tools and approaches for future research.
ISSN:0030-1299
1600-0706
DOI:10.1111/oik.05802