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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Determinants of local abundance and range size in forest vascular plants
Global Ecology and Biogeography, Volume 15, No. 3, Year 2006
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Description
Aim: For a large set of forest herbs we tested: (1) whether there is a positive relationship between local abundance and geographical range size; (2) whether abundance or range size are affected by the niche breadths of species or niche availability; and (3) whether these are affected by the species life-history traits. Location: Northwestern Germany. Methods: We measured abundance as mean density in 22 base-rich deciduous forests and recorded range size as area of occupancy on four different spatial scales (local to national). Niche breadth was expressed in terms of habitat specificity (specialists, generalists) and of the ability to grow across a broad range of soil pH. The species' pH niche position was used as a measure of the importance of habitat availability. As life-history traits we used diaspore mass and number, plant height, seed longevity, lifes pan/clonality, pollination mode, dispersal capability and flowering time. Result: There were mainly no positive relationships between the abundance of species and their range size, as tested across species and across phylogenetically independent contrasts. Forest specialists were generally distributed less widely than generalists, but habitat specificity was not related to local abundance. Species with a broader pH niche breadth were more common, but the positive relationships between niche breadth and abundance or range size disappeared when accounting for sample size effects. Clonal species with few and heavy diaspores were most abundant, as well as early-flowering species and those lacking dispersal structures. Local and regional range size were determined largely by habitat availability, while national range was positively affected by plant height and diaspore mass. Main conclusions: Different processes determine the local density of species and their range size. Abundance within habitat patches appears to be related mainly to the species life histories, especially to their capacity for extensive clonal reproduction, whereas range size appears to be determined strongly by the availability of suitable habitat. © 2006 The Authors Journal compilation. © 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Authors & Co-Authors
Kolb, Annette
Germany, Bremen
Universität Bremen
Sweden, Stockholm
Stockholms Universitet
Barsch, Frank
Botswana, Gaborone
Ministry of Environment
Diekmann, Martin Reemt
Germany, Bremen
Universität Bremen
Statistics
Citations: 60
Authors: 3
Affiliations: 3
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1111/j.1466-8238.2005.00210.x
ISSN:
1466822X
e-ISSN:
14668238