Stochastic Species Turnover and Stable Coexistence in a Species-Rich, Fire-Prone Plant Community

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dc.contributor.authorThuiller, Wilfrieden_ZA
dc.contributor.authorSlingsby, Jasper A.en_ZA
dc.contributor.authorPrivett, Sean D. J.en_ZA
dc.contributor.authorCowling, Richard M.en_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-11-09T13:23:28Z
dc.date.available2015-11-09T13:23:28Z
dc.date.issued2007en_ZA
dc.description.abstractUnderstanding the mechanisms that maintain diversity is important for managing ecosystems for species persistence. Here we used a long-term data set to understand mechanisms of coexistence at the local and regional scales in the Cape Floristic Region, a global hotspot of plant diversity. We used a dataset comprising 81 monitoring sites, sampled in 1966 and again in 1996, and containing 422 species for which growth form, regeneration mode, dispersal distance and abundances at both the local (site) and meta-community scales are known. We found that species presence and abundance were stable at the meta-community scale over the 30 year period but highly unstable at the local scale, and were not influenced by species' biological attributes. Moreover, rare species were no more likely to go extinct at the local scale than common species, and that alpha diversity in local communities was strongly influenced by habitat. We conclude that stochastic environmental fluctuations associated with recurrent fire buffer populations from extinction, thereby ensuring stable coexistence at the meta-community scale by creating a “neutral-like” pattern maintained by niche-differentiation.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationThuiller, W., Slingsby, Jasper A., Privett, Sean D. J., & Cowling, Richard M. (2007). Stochastic Species Turnover and Stable Coexistence in a Species-Rich, Fire-Prone Plant Community. <i>PLoS One</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14793en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationThuiller, Wilfried, Jasper A. Slingsby, Sean D. J. Privett, and Richard M. Cowling "Stochastic Species Turnover and Stable Coexistence in a Species-Rich, Fire-Prone Plant Community." <i>PLoS One</i> (2007) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14793en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationThuiller, W., Slingsby, J. A., Privett, S. D., & Cowling, R. M. (2007). Stochastic species turnover and stable coexistence in a species-rich, fire-prone plant community. PloS One, 2(9), e938. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000938en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Thuiller, Wilfried AU - Slingsby, Jasper A. AU - Privett, Sean D. J. AU - Cowling, Richard M. AB - Understanding the mechanisms that maintain diversity is important for managing ecosystems for species persistence. Here we used a long-term data set to understand mechanisms of coexistence at the local and regional scales in the Cape Floristic Region, a global hotspot of plant diversity. We used a dataset comprising 81 monitoring sites, sampled in 1966 and again in 1996, and containing 422 species for which growth form, regeneration mode, dispersal distance and abundances at both the local (site) and meta-community scales are known. We found that species presence and abundance were stable at the meta-community scale over the 30 year period but highly unstable at the local scale, and were not influenced by species' biological attributes. Moreover, rare species were no more likely to go extinct at the local scale than common species, and that alpha diversity in local communities was strongly influenced by habitat. We conclude that stochastic environmental fluctuations associated with recurrent fire buffer populations from extinction, thereby ensuring stable coexistence at the meta-community scale by creating a “neutral-like” pattern maintained by niche-differentiation. DA - 2007 DB - OpenUCT DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0000938 DP - University of Cape Town J1 - PLoS One LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2007 T1 - Stochastic Species Turnover and Stable Coexistence in a Species-Rich, Fire-Prone Plant Community TI - Stochastic Species Turnover and Stable Coexistence in a Species-Rich, Fire-Prone Plant Community UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14793 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/14793
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0000938
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationThuiller W, Slingsby Jasper A, Privett Sean D J, Cowling Richard M. Stochastic Species Turnover and Stable Coexistence in a Species-Rich, Fire-Prone Plant Community. PLoS One. 2007; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14793.en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisherPublic Library of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Biological Sciencesen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.rightsThis is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.en_ZA
dc.rights.holder© 2007 Thuiller et alen_ZA
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0en_ZA
dc.sourcePLoS Oneen_ZA
dc.source.urihttp://journals.plos.org/plosoneen_ZA
dc.subject.otherSpecies extinctionen_ZA
dc.subject.otherSpecies colonizationen_ZA
dc.subject.otherInvasive speciesen_ZA
dc.subject.otherSpecies diversityen_ZA
dc.subject.otherHabitatsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherShrubsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherBiodiversityen_ZA
dc.subject.otherSouth Africaen_ZA
dc.titleStochastic Species Turnover and Stable Coexistence in a Species-Rich, Fire-Prone Plant Communityen_ZA
dc.typeJournal Articleen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
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