Centre for Biological Diversity and Scottish Oceans Institute, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9TH, UK.
BMC Biol. 2013 Sep 4;11:98. doi: 10.1186/1741-7007-11-98.
Some of the most marked temporal fluctuations in species abundances are linked to seasons. In theory, multispecies assemblages can persist if species use shared resources at different times, thereby minimizing interspecific competition. However, there is scant empirical evidence supporting these predictions and, to the best of our knowledge, seasonal variation has never been explored in the context of fluctuation-mediated coexistence.
Using an exceptionally well-documented estuarine fish assemblage, sampled monthly for over 30 years, we show that temporal shifts in species abundances underpin species coexistence. Species fall into distinct seasonal groups, within which spatial resource use is more heterogeneous than would be expected by chance at those times when competition for food is most intense. We also detect seasonal variation in the richness and evenness of the community, again linked to shifts in resource availability.
These results reveal that spatiotemporal shifts in community composition minimize competitive interactions and help stabilize total abundance.
一些最显著的物种丰度时间波动与季节有关。从理论上讲，如果物种在不同时间使用共享资源，从而最小化种间竞争，那么多物种组合就可以持续存在。然而，几乎没有经验证据支持这些预测，据我们所知，波动介导的共存中从未探讨过季节性变化。
利用一个记录非常详细的河口鱼类组合，在 30 多年的时间里每月进行采样，我们表明物种丰度的时间变化是物种共存的基础。物种分为不同的季节性群体，在这些群体中，空间资源利用的异质性比在食物竞争最激烈时的随机预期要高。我们还检测到群落丰富度和均匀度的季节性变化，这再次与资源可利用性的变化有关。
这些结果表明，群落组成的时空变化最小化了竞争相互作用，并有助于稳定总丰度。
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