In: PLoS ONE, 2012, no. 12, p. e50969
The leaves of the carnivorous pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea, contain a microscopic aquatic food web that is considered a model system in ecological research. The species identity of the intermediate and top trophic level of this food web, as well the detritivore midge, are highly similar across the native geographic range of S. purpurea and, in some cases, appear to have co-evolved with the...
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In: Ecology and Evolution, 2013, vol. 3, no. 1, p. 182–196
Species introductions of anthropogenic origins are a major aspect of rapid ecological change globally. Research on biological invasions has generated a large literature on many different aspects of this phenomenon. Here, we describe and categorize some aspects of this literature, to better understand what has been studied and what we know, mapping well-studied areas and important gaps. To do so,...
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In: Oikos, 2015, vol. 124, no. 3, p. 355–363
Understanding whether factors important for species establishment in a local community are predictable or context- dependent is key for determining the features that affect community stability and species coexistence. A major challenge for scientists addressing this question is that natural systems are complex. This makes it difficult to test multiple properties of species and features of the...
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In: Scientific Reports, 2019, vol. 9, no. 1, p. 18286
Dispersal is key for maintaining biodiversity at local- and regional scales in metacommunities. However, little is known about the combined effects of dispersal and climate change on biodiversity. Theory predicts that alpha-diversity is maximized at intermediate dispersal rates, resulting in a hump-shaped diversity-dispersal relationship. This relationship is predicted to flatten when...
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In: Global Change Biology, 2017, vol. 23, no. 1, p. 56–67
Climate change research has demonstrated that changing temperatures will have an effect on community-level dynamics by altering species survival rates, shifting species distributions, and ultimately, creating mismatches in community interactions. However, most of this work has focused on increasing temperature, and still little is known about how the variation in temperature extremes will...
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In: The American Naturalist, 2018, vol. 193, no. 2, p. 227–239
Gaining knowledge of how ecosystems provide essential services to humans is of primary importance, especially with the current threat of climate change. Yet little is known about how increased temperature will impact the biodiversity–ecosystem functioning (BEF) relationship. We tackled this subject theoretically and experimentally. We developed a BEF theory based on mechanistic population ...
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In: Ecology and Evolution, 2016, vol. 6, no. 14, p. 4885–4897
Understanding how trophic levels respond to changes in abiotic and biotic conditions is key for predicting how food webs will react to environmental perturbations. Different trophic levels may respond disproportionately to change, with lower levels more likely to react faster, as they typically consist of smaller-bodied species with higher reproductive rates. This response could cause a...
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In: Aquatic Ecology, 2012, vol. 46, no. 4, p. 487-499
The development of a community through time, or succession, is generally described as the orderly replacement of species until a deterministic, stable endpoint is reached. However, stochastic factors, coupled with intrinsic biotic factors, such as herbivory or predation, can cause communities within the same habitat to become highly dissimilar in composition. Much research on the succession of...
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In: Ecography, 2016, vol. 39, no. 10, p. 981–989
Temperature is known to influence ecosystem processes through its direct effect on biological rates such as respiration and nutrient cycling. These changes can then indirectly affect ecologically processes by altering trophic dynamics, the persistence of a species in a given environment, and, consequently, its distribution. However, it is not known if this direct effect of temperature on...
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In: Oecologia, 2016, vol. 180, no. 2, p. 519–528
Introduced top predators have the potential to disrupt community dynamics when prey species are naive to predation. The impact of introduced predators may also vary depending on the stage of community development. Early-succession communities are likely to have small-bodied and fast-growing species, but are not necessarily good at defending against predators. In contrast, late-succession...
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