TY - JOUR
T1 - Biomass–Diversity Responses and Spatial Dependencies in Disturbed Tallgrass Prairies
AU - Gamarra, Javier G. P.
AU - Solé, Ricard V.
N1 - Javier G. P. Gamarra and Ricard V. Sole (2002). Biomass-diversity responses and spatial dependencies in disturbed tallgrass prairies. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 215 (4) pp.469-480
RAE2008
PY - 2002/4/21
Y1 - 2002/4/21
N2 - Monotonic, hump-shaped and zero-correlation productivity–diversity relationships have been found to date in many ecosystems. This diversity of responses has puzzled ecologists in their search for general principles on ecosystem functioning. Some state that the scale of observation is crucial in defining this relationship. We have developed a spatial model of tallgrass prairies where biomass and litter dynamics are defined by uncoupled difference equations. In this system, we periodically apply prescribed fire as a disturbance that propagates through neighboring cells. The model shows percolation thresholds at points where small-scale spatial heterogeneity and large-scale, global correlation coexist, resulting in power-law distributions in available areas for non-dominant species. These points maximize the biomass–diversity relationship. Our results suggest that spatial dependencies and the disturbance heterogeneity hypothesis are the cornerstone processes accounting for unimodality in productivity–diversity relationships.
AB - Monotonic, hump-shaped and zero-correlation productivity–diversity relationships have been found to date in many ecosystems. This diversity of responses has puzzled ecologists in their search for general principles on ecosystem functioning. Some state that the scale of observation is crucial in defining this relationship. We have developed a spatial model of tallgrass prairies where biomass and litter dynamics are defined by uncoupled difference equations. In this system, we periodically apply prescribed fire as a disturbance that propagates through neighboring cells. The model shows percolation thresholds at points where small-scale spatial heterogeneity and large-scale, global correlation coexist, resulting in power-law distributions in available areas for non-dominant species. These points maximize the biomass–diversity relationship. Our results suggest that spatial dependencies and the disturbance heterogeneity hypothesis are the cornerstone processes accounting for unimodality in productivity–diversity relationships.
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/2160/1401
U2 - 10.1006/jtbi.2001.2520
DO - 10.1006/jtbi.2001.2520
M3 - Article
SN - 0022-5193
VL - 215
SP - 469
EP - 480
JO - Journal of Theoretical Biology
JF - Journal of Theoretical Biology
IS - 4
ER -