Variation In Species Proportions Research Articles

Analogue Particle and Random Packing Models of Ecological Community Formation

The apparent constancy of the near linear relationship between logarithm of a specie’s abundance in a community and their rank order led to a brief review of existing species abundance distribution (SAD) models; a proposal of three further classes of analogue models; and an evaluation of a meta data set of empirical vegetation composition data. A new class of models is proposed considered particle packing of circles (2D) or spheres (3D) as representing individuals of species which under different scenarios of arrival, growth, displacement and mortality determine community maximum packing and SAD. Besides the existing random models treating each species as an entity, two further classes are added which considered dismantling rather than assembly models, or retaining identity of taxa species through successive stages of assembly or dismantling models. In each of the models, the resulting form of the SAD was dependent on which metric of an individual (density, area, volume etc) was used as a measure of abundance. A comparison was made between the resulting 576 different models and 432 sets of 10 species and 110 sets of 5 species empirical observations. There was a wide variation in species proportions and a lack of clustering around a particular model. In those comparisons, the particle packing models of individuals were as good as the random models treating species as an entity and did offer a functional explanation of the formation of the SAD. In most models and empirical data the species ranking is done retrospectively so there will always be a high negative correlation between abundance and rank implying a need for a revaluation of the ecological significance of the relationship.

ECOLOGICAL DATA ON MICROMAMMALS COLLECTED BY BARN OWLS TYTO ALBA IN THE WEST COAST NATIONAL PARK, SOUTH AFRICA

ABSTRACT Barn owls Tyto alba catch large numbers of micromammals and incidentally accumulate information concerning their prey. Here an outline is given of the contribution of barn owls to micro-distributional studies at five closely situated roosts in the West Coast National Park, southwestern South Africa. Seasonal variation in proportions of species and a positive correlation between mean mass of individual in monthly samples and rainfall at Geelbek B reflect the influence of rainfall on vegetation cover. Strong, but possibly spurious, correlations exist between various climatic factors and proportions of young in the vlei rat Otomys irroratus population at different times of the year. High incidences of co-occurrences of different species in owl pellets suggest possible co-habitation of the species concerned while co-occurrences of adult and perinatal O. irroratus provide reproductive information.

Quantifying empirical relations between planted species mixtures and canopy reflectance with PROTEST

Abstract Mapping plant species composition of mixed vegetation stands with remote sensing is a complicated task. Uncertainties may arise from similar spectral signatures of different plant species as well as from variable influences of prevailing plant states (e.g., growth stages, vigor, or stress levels). Despite these uncertainties, empirical approaches may often be able to take up the challenge. However, their performance is likely to be affected by the temporal variability of empirical relations between reflectance and plant species composition. To assess some aspects of this temporal variability, we performed a greenhouse study. Three mixed stands of grassland species were planted with defined spatial variation in species proportions. The canopy reflectance of these mixed stands was measured with a field spectrometer over a period of three months. Confounding external influences on plant states apart from maturation were minimized. The suitability of canopy reflectance and derivative reflectance to draw conclusions on differences in qualitative species mixtures between the stands was tested with a classification approach (Spectral Angle Mapper, SAM). Procrustean randomization test (PROTEST), which is to our knowledge new to the field of remote sensing, was applied in combination with Isometric Feature Mapping to quantify the spectral variation caused by within-stand spatial variation in species proportions. Model fits in both analyses increased with progressing plant development; further, utilization of derivative reflectance improved the model fits. Regardless of the within-stand variation, SAM enabled a successful discrimination of the three stands with an average overall accuracy of 85% (reflectance) and 92% (derivative reflectance). In PROTEST analysis, spatial variation in reflectance was successfully related to within-stand variation in species proportions. However, observed influences of variable growth stages and health states on these relations were considerable. The temporal variation of these relations ( r = 0.27–0.73 for reflectance and 0.48–0.73 for derivative reflectance) was quantified for the first time under controlled conditions.

Distribution, pest status and agro-climatic preferences of lepidopteran stem borers of maize in Kenya

Lepidopterous stem borers are the main field insect pests that attack maize, Zea mays L. in tropical Africa. A survey was carried during the long and short rain cropping seasons of 2002 / 2003 across six main agro-climatic zones (ACZs) to determine the spatial distribution of important stem borer species in Kenya. A total of 474 visits were made in the seventy-eight localities conveniently chosen to represent each of the six ACZs. 189,600 stems were checked for infestation, of which 27,799 infested stems were destructively cut and dissected for stem borer larvae identification. An average of 1.4 stem borer larvae were recovered per infested plant. 54.5% of the recovered larvae were identified as Chilo partellus (Swinhoe) (Crambidae), 39.7% as Busseola fusca (Fuller) (Noctuidae), 4.5% as Sesamia calamistis Hampson (Noctuidae) and 0.8% as Chilo orichalcociliellus (Strand) (Crambidae). Minor species present included Eldana saccharina Walker (Pyralidae), Sesamia nonagrioides (Lefebvre) (Noctuidae), Sesamia cretica Lederer (Noctuidae), Sesamia sp. (Noctuidae), Sciomesa piscator Fletcher (Noctuidae), Busseola sp near phaia (Noctuidae), Chilo sp, Ematheudes sp 1 (Pyralidae) and Ematheudes sp 2 (Pyralidae). Farms were grouped into respective ACZs for statistical analysis and subsequent comparison of dominant species. Results indicated that B. fusca was the dominant stem borer species in high potential zones (highland tropics, moist transitional zone and moist midaltitude) while the exotic C. partellus dominated smallholder farms in low potential zones (dry midaltitude, dry transional and lowland tropical zone). Within each ACZs, there was evidence of variation in species proportions between seasons. These spatio-temporal differences in community structure are discussed in terms of agro-climatic biological adaptations.

DIFFERENCES IN RIPARIAN FLORA BETWEEN RIVERBANKS AND RIVER LAKESHORES EXPLAINED BY DISPERSAL TRAITS

Rivers and river lakes, i.e., lakes that are part of river systems, provide distinctive geomorphic and hydrologic conditions for riparian plants. This variation between lotic and lentic water bodies results in various environments for establishment and growth of plants, but also presents a range of conditions under which plant propagules are transported and deposited along riverbanks and lakeshores. Propagules may be differentially deposited in specific types of fluvial settings depending on their buoyancy. Among riverbanks and lakeshores, we predicted that lakeshores would capture the highest proportion of long-floating seeds, because short floaters will sink before reaching the shoreline. We also predicted that turbulent reaches would receive the highest proportion of short-floating seeds, because these are the sections where buoyancy is least important. Tranquil reaches of rivers were predicted to be intermediate between turbulent reaches and lakes with respect to their efficiency in capturing of long- and short-floating seeds. We tested whether these differences were mirrored in the floras of the different reach types, using reaches of a range of current velocities in 67 sites along a free-flowing river system in northern Sweden. We also related floristic differences to environmental conditions in each of the three reach types (turbulent sections, tranquil sections, and river lakes). The proportions of species with long-floating propagules, herbs, and aquatic species were higher along river lakeshores and tranquil reaches than along turbulent reaches, and the opposite was true for species with short-floating propagules, dwarf shrubs, graminoids, and terrestrial species. The patterns remained when the largest species groups (herbs and graminoids) were tested for floating ability, i.e., the highest proportions of long-floating herbs and graminoids were found in lakes, and the lowest in turbulent reaches; tranquil reaches were intermediate or similar to lakes. Exposure to waves and currents and peat cover explained most of the variation in proportions of species with different floating abilities. We suggest that reach type is a good indicator for predicting the composition of riparian vegetation, especially the proportionate representation of species with various dispersal traits. These results suggest that there is a functional relationship between dispersal traits, channel characteristics, and plant community composition.

Down-core distribution of live and dead deep-water benthic foraminifera in box cores from the Weddell Sea and the California continental borderland

Five short cores sub-sampled from box cores from three sites in the eastern Weddell Sea off Antarctica and in the eastern Pacific off southern California, covering a range in water depth from 500 to 2000 m, were analysed for the down-core distribution of live (stained with Rose Bengal) and dead benthic foraminifera. In the California continental borderland, Planulina ariminensis, Rosalina columbiensis and Trochammina spp. live attached to agglutinated polychaetes tubes that rise above the sediment-water interface. Bolivina spissa lives exclusively in or on the uppermost sediment. Stained specimens of Chilostomella ovoidea are found down to 6 cm within the sediment and specimens of Globobulimina pacifica down to a maximum of 8 cm. δ 13C values of live G. pacifica decrease with increasing depth from the sediment surface down to 7 cm core depth, indicating that this infaunal species utilizes 13C-depleted carbon from pore waters. In the dead, predominantly calcareous benthic forminiferal assemblage, selective dissolution of small delicate tests in the upper sediment column causes a continuous variation in species proportions. In the eastern Weddell Sea, the calcareous Bulimina aculeata lives in a carbonate corrosive environment exclusively in or on the uppermost sediment. The arenaceous Cribrostomoides subglobosum, Recurvoides contorus and some Reophax species are frequently found within the top 4 cm of the sediment, whereas stained specimens of Haplophragmoides bradyi, Glomospira charoides and Cribrostomoides wiesneri occur in maximum abundance below the uppermost 1.5 cm. Species proportions in the dead, predominantly arenaceous, benthic foraminiferal assemblage change in three distinct steps. The first change is caused by calcite dissolution at the sediment-water interface, the second coincides with the lower boundary of intense bioturbation, and the third results from the geochemical shift from oxidizing to reducing conditions below a compacted ash layer.

Crustacean plankton in northeastern Ontario lakes subjected to acidic deposition

During the summer of 1981, crustacean plankton was sampled in 249 northeastern Ontario lakes, including a large proportion of acidic lakes. Species cluster analysis showed that a major species group containing B. longirostris, D. minutus, H. gibberum, and M. edax was common to most lakes. Two species subgroups most associated with more productive waters (D. retrocurva, D. oregonensis, T. p. mexicanus, and Diaphanosoma sp.) and less productive waters (D. longiremis, C. scutifer, D. g. mendotae, C. b. thomasi, E. longispina, and E. lacustris) in the study area were identified. Acidic lakes were characterized by reduced numbers of species related to declines in the importance of cyclopoids, Daphnidae, L. kindtii and E. lacustris and high relative abundance of D. minutus. Stepwise multiple linear regression of physico-chemical lake characteristics against percent composition of individual species failed to explain much of the variation in species proportions. However, variables related to lake thermal structure were most frequently the primary correlates with species proportions in near-neutral lakes while in acidic lakes the best statistical predictors of species percent composition were most often variables directly related to lake acidity.