科研之友
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摘要
Beta diversity describes how species composition varies across space and through time. Current estimators of beta diversity typically ignore the effects of within-patch sample size, determined jointly by local abundance and sampling effort. Many ecological processes such as immigration, predation, or nutrient limitation affect abundance and asymptotic beta diversity concurrently; thus, existing metrics may confound changes in asymptotic beta diversity with changes that result from differences in abundance or sampling. Results from a stochastic simulation model illustrate how decreasing within-patch sample size may either increase or decrease observed beta diversity, depending on the type of metric, sample size, and community properties; these changes are easy to understand, and predict, by considering the effects of sampling on variance. A modified, patch-level form of rarefaction controls for variation in within-patch sample size; two case studies illustrate the utility of this approach. Studies seeking a mechanistic link between ecological process and beta diversity will continue to benefit from explicit consideration of sampling effects.
- 出版日期2016-12
