Article
Rethinking community assembly through the Lens of coexistence theory
Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics
(2012)
Abstract
Although research on the role of competitive interactions during community assembly began decades ago, a recent revival of interest has led to new discoveries and research opportunities. Using contemporary coexistence theory that emphasizes stabilizing niche differences and relative fitness differences, we evaluate three empirical approaches for studying community assembly. We show that experimental manipulations of the abiotic or biotic environment, assessments of trait-phylogeny-environment relationships, and investigations of frequency-dependent population growth all suggest strong influences of stabilizing niche differences and fitness differences on the outcome of plant community assembly. Nonetheless, due to the limitations of these approaches applied in isolation, we still have a poor understanding of which niche axes and which traits determine the outcome of competition and community structure. Combining current approaches represents our best chance of achieving this goal, which is fundamental to conceptual ecology and to the management of plant communities under global change.
Disciplines
Publication Date
2012
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-110411-160411
Publisher Statement
DOI: 10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-110411-160411
Citation Information
Peter B. Adler. "Rethinking community assembly through the Lens of coexistence theory" Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics Vol. 43 (2012) p. 227 - 248 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/peter_adler/56/