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      Agent-mediated spatial storage effect in heterogeneous habitat stabilizes competitive mouse lemur coexistence in Menabe Central, Western Madagascar.

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          Abstract

          Spatio-temporal distribution patterns of species in response to natural and anthropogenic drivers provide insight into the ecological processes that determine community composition. We investigated determinants of ecological structure in a species assemblage of 4 closely related primate species of the family Cheirogaleidae (Microcebus berthae, Microcebus murinus, Cheirogaleus medius, Mirza coquereli) in western Madagascar by extensive line transect surveys across spatial and temporal heterogeneities with the specific goal of elucidating the mechanisms stabilizing competitive coexistence of the two mouse lemur species (Microcebus spp.).

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          Most cited references154

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          On the Relationship between Abundance and Distribution of Species

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            Functional traits and niche-based tree community assembly in an Amazonian forest.

            It is debated whether species-level differences in ecological strategy, which play a key role in much of coexistence theory, are important in structuring highly diverse communities. We examined the co-occurrence patterns of over 1100 tree species in a 25-hectare Amazonian forest plot in relation to field-measured functional traits. Using a null model approach, we show that co-occurring trees are often less ecologically similar than a niche-free (neutral) model predicts. Furthermore, we find evidence for processes that simultaneously drive convergence and divergence in key aspects of plant strategy, suggesting that at least two distinct niche-based processes are occurring. Our results show that strategy differentiation among species contributes to the maintenance of diversity in one of the most diverse tropical forests in the world.
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              Intertidal community structure

              Along exposed rocky intertidal shorelines of western North America the mussel Mytilus californianus exists as a characteristic, well-defined band. Measurements at Mukkaw Bay and Tatoosh Island, Washington State, suggest that the upper limit to distribution is constant. The lower limit is also predictably constant, as judged by photographs of the same areas taken up to 9 years apart. The band of mussels is formed by larval recruitment to a variety of substrates, especially the filamentous red alga Endocladia muricata. From the settlement site, if the mussels survive a series of predators including the starfish Pisaster ochraceus and a variety of carnivorous gastropods (Thais spp.), the mussles may be washed inward or migrate (be pushed) downward.When Pisaster was removed manually, the zonation pattern changed rapidly. Mussels advanced downward at Mukkaw Bay a vertical distance of 0.85 m in 5 years. No movement was observed on 2 adjacent control sites. At Tatoosh Island a maximum displacement of 1.93 m has been observed in 3 years; the slope there is 40°. Again, there was no change at control sites with Pisaster. At Mukkaw Bay over 25 species of invertebrates and benthic algae are excluded from occupancy of the primary substratum by mussels. The ecological dominance of mussels is discussed; predation is shown to enhance coexistence among potential competitors. A survival curve for Pollicipes polymerus indicates that the time course for interspecific competitive exclusion may be long (76 months). The clarity of the biological interrelationships and the constancy of pattern through time provide no support for the contention that intertidal communities are physically-controlled.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                BMC Ecol.
                BMC ecology
                Springer Science and Business Media LLC
                1472-6785
                1472-6785
                Mar 05 2015
                : 15
                Affiliations
                [1 ] Behavioral Ecology & Sociobiology Unit, German Primate Center, Göttingen, Germany. livia.schaeffler@mfn-berlin.de.
                [2 ] Present address: Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany. livia.schaeffler@mfn-berlin.de.
                [3 ] Department Ecoinformatics, Biometrics and Forest Growth, and Department Ecosystem Modelling, Büsgen-Institute, Georg-August University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany. jsaboro@gwdg.de.
                [4 ] Behavioral Ecology & Sociobiology Unit, German Primate Center, Göttingen, Germany. pkappel@gwdg.de.
                Article
                10.1186/s12898-015-0040-1
                10.1186/s12898-015-0040-1
                4392807
                25888023
                5bf63eeb-dbb4-49f9-a071-bcb63a27012b
                History

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