Haddad Nick M, Holyoak Marcel, Mata Tawny M, Davies Kendi F, Melbourne Brett A, Preston Kim
Department of Zoology, North Carolina State University, PO Box 7617, Raleigh, NC 27695-7617, USA.
Ecol Lett. 2008 Apr;11(4):348-56. doi: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2007.01149.x. Epub 2008 Jan 14.
Disturbance is an important factor influencing diversity patterns. Ecological theory predicts that diversity peaks at intermediate levels of disturbance, but this pattern is not present in a majority of empirical tests and can be influenced by the level of ecosystem productivity. We experimentally tested the effects of disturbance on diversity and show that species' autecological traits and community relations predicted species loss. We found that - alone or in concert - increasing disturbance intensity or frequency, or decreasing productivity, reduced diversity. Our species did not exhibit a clear competition-colonization trade-off, and intrinsic growth rate was a more important predictor of response to disturbance and productivity than measures of competitive ability. Furthermore, competitive ability was more important in predicting responses when, in addition to killing individuals, disturbance returned nutrients to the ecosystem. Our results demonstrate that species' traits can help resolve conflicting patterns in the response of diversity to disturbance and productivity.
干扰是影响多样性格局的一个重要因素。生态理论预测，多样性在中等干扰水平时达到峰值，但这一模式在大多数实证检验中并不存在，且可能受生态系统生产力水平的影响。我们通过实验测试了干扰对多样性的影响，并表明物种的个体生态特征和群落关系可预测物种损失。我们发现，单独或共同作用时，增加干扰强度或频率，或降低生产力，都会使多样性降低。我们研究的物种未表现出明显的竞争 - 定殖权衡，并且与竞争能力的衡量指标相比，内在增长率是对干扰和生产力响应的更重要预测指标。此外，当干扰除了杀死个体外还将养分返还给生态系统时，竞争能力在预测响应方面更为重要。我们的结果表明，物种特征有助于解决多样性对干扰和生产力响应中相互矛盾的格局。
