Metacommunity organisation, spatial extent and dispersal in aquatic systems: patterns, processes and prospects
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2014-12-29
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Resumo
1. Metacommunity ecology addresses the situation where sets of local communities are connected
by the dispersal of a number of potentially interacting species. Aquatic systems (e.g. lentic versus
lotic versus marine) differ from each other in connectivity and environmental heterogeneity,
suggesting that metacommunity organisation also differs between major aquatic systems. Here,
we review findings from observational field studies on metacommunity organisation in aquatic
systems.
2. Species sorting (i.e. species are ‘filtered’ by environmental factors and occur only at environmentally
suitable sites) prevails in aquatic systems, particularly in streams and lakes, but the degree to
which dispersal limitation interacts with such environmental control varies among different systems
and spatial scales. For example, mainstem rivers and marine coastal systems may be strongly
affected by ‘mass effects’ (i.e. where high dispersal rates homogenise communities to some degree at
neighbouring localities, irrespective of their abiotic and biotic environmental conditions), whereas
isolated lakes and ponds may be structured by dispersal limitation (i.e. some species do not occur at
otherwise-suitable localities simply because sites with potential colonists are too far away). Flow
directionality in running waters also differs from water movements in other systems, and this difference
may also have effects on the role of dispersal in different aquatic systems.
3. Dispersal limitation typically increases with increasing spatial distance between sites, mass effects
potentially increase in importance with decreasing distance between sites, and the dispersal ability of
organisms may determine the spatial extents at which species sorting and dispersal processes are
most important.
4. A better understanding of the relative roles of species sorting, mass effects and dispersal limitation
in affecting aquatic metacommunities requires the following: (i) characterising dispersal rates more
directly or adopting better proxies than have been used previously; (ii) considering the nature of
aquatic networks; (iii) combining correlative and experimental approaches; (iv) exploring temporal
aspects of metacommunity organisation and (v) applying past approaches and statistical methods
innovatively for increasing our understanding of metacommunity organisation.
Descrição
v. 60, p. 845-869, 2014.
Palavras-chave
Dispersal limitation, Dispersal rates, Environmental heterogeneity, Mass effects, Spatial processes, Species sorting
Citação
HEINO, Jani; MELO, Adriano S.; SIQUEIRA, Tadeu; SOININEN, Janne; VALANKO, Sebastian; BINI, Luis Mauricio. Metacommunity organisation, spatial extent and dispersal in aquatic systems: patterns, processes and prospects. Freshwater Biology, v. 60, p. 845-869, 2014. Disponível em: <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/fwb.12533/epdf>.