How habitat selection, succession, and assembly rules can influence landscape ecology in natural and disturbed areas

Abstract

Why should one find a particular set of small mammals at any particular site? This question is at the heart of community ecology, and while no definitive and conclusive answer can yet be provided, this paper does summarize a body of research that has explored, and I think clarified, some of the factors that influence which species occur where and when. The impacts of disturbances such as wildfire and sand mining are examined, along with the regeneration of vegetation and recolonization by small mammals that follow such disturbances in heathland and eucalypt forest in coastal eastern Australia. I describe results from experiments that confirm that these small mammal species do indeed choose or select habitats, rather than just make use of the habitats that are available. Further replicated, experimental removals, as manipulations of each species, one at a time, confirm that interspecific competition between these small mammal species is an important factor determining which species are found where and when, if the temporal aspect of succession is included. Guild assembly rules are examined to illustrate how they may determine which species may or may not become part of a community. Here, my review and synthesis illustrate how the major influences upon the community and landscape ecology of small mammals in the area examined are both spatially variable and temporally dynamic.