Department of Zoology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 May 4;107(18):8281-6. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0914588107. Epub 2010 Apr 19.
Determining the relative importance of local and regional processes for the distribution of population abundance is a fundamental but contentious issue in ecology. In marine systems, classical theory holds that the influence of demographic processes and dispersal is confined to local populations whereas the environment controls regional patterns of abundance. Here, we use spatial synchrony to compare the distribution of population abundance of the dominant mussel Mytilus californianus observed along the West Coast of the United States to that predicted by dynamical models undergoing different dispersal and environmental treatments to infer the relative influence of local and regional processes. We reveal synchronized fluctuations in the abundance of mussel populations across a whole continent despite limited larval dispersal and strong environmental forcing. We show that dispersal among neighboring populations interacts with local demographic processes to generate characteristic patterns of spatial synchrony that can govern the dynamic distribution of mussel abundance over 1,800 km of coastline. Our study emphasizes the importance of dispersal and local dynamics for the distribution of abundance at the continental scale. It further highlights potential limits to the use of "climate envelope" models for predicting the response of large-scale ecosystems to global climate change.
确定局部和区域过程对种群丰度分布的相对重要性是生态学中的一个基本但有争议的问题。在海洋系统中，经典理论认为，人口过程和扩散的影响仅限于当地种群，而环境控制着丰度的区域模式。在这里，我们使用空间同步性来比较在美国西海岸观察到的优势贻贝 Mytilus californianus 的种群丰度分布与经历不同扩散和环境处理的动力模型预测的分布，以推断局部和区域过程的相对影响。尽管幼虫扩散有限且环境胁迫强烈，但我们发现贻贝种群的丰度在整个大陆上都存在同步波动。我们表明，相邻种群之间的扩散与当地的人口动态相互作用，产生了特征性的空间同步模式，这种模式可以控制贻贝丰度在 1800 公里长的海岸线范围内的动态分布。我们的研究强调了扩散和局部动态对大陆尺度上丰度分布的重要性。它进一步突出了“气候包络”模型在预测大规模生态系统对全球气候变化的反应方面的潜在局限性。
