Show simple item record

Files in this item

Thumbnail

Item metadata

dc.contributor.authorShimadzu, Hideyasu
dc.contributor.authorDornelas, Maria
dc.contributor.authorHenderson, Peter A
dc.contributor.authorMagurran, Anne
dc.date.accessioned2013-12-16T12:01:01Z
dc.date.available2013-12-16T12:01:01Z
dc.date.issued2013-09-04
dc.identifier.citationShimadzu , H , Dornelas , M , Henderson , P A & Magurran , A 2013 , ' Diversity is maintained by seasonal variation in species abundance ' , BMC Biology , vol. 11 , no. September , 98 . https://doi.org/10.1186/1741-7007-11-98en
dc.identifier.issn1741-7007
dc.identifier.otherPURE: 70880073
dc.identifier.otherPURE UUID: e71a0766-9784-43ee-a4f5-9377b112aecc
dc.identifier.otherScopus: 84883304957
dc.identifier.otherORCID: /0000-0002-0036-2795/work/43550237
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10023/4300
dc.description.abstractBackground Some of the most marked temporal fluctuations in species abundances are linked to seasons. In theory, multi-species assemblages can persist if species use shared resources at different times, thereby minimizing inter-specific competition. However, there is scant empirical evidence supporting these predictions and, to our knowledge, seasonal variation has never been explored in the context of fluctuation-mediated coexistence. Results Using an exceptionally well-documented estuarine fish assemblage, sampled monthly for over 30 years, we show that temporal shifts in species abundances underpin species coexistence. Species fall into distinct seasonal groups, within which spatial resource use is more heterogeneous than would be expected by chance at those times when competition for food is most intense. We also detect seasonal variation in the richness and evenness of the community, again linked to shifts in resource availability. Conclusion These results reveal that spatio-temporal shifts in community composition minimize competitive interactions and help stabilize total abundance.
dc.format.extent9
dc.language.isoeng
dc.relation.ispartofBMC Biologyen
dc.rights© 2013 Shimadzu et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.en
dc.titleDiversity is maintained by seasonal variation in species abundanceen
dc.typeJournal articleen
dc.description.versionPublisher PDFen
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. School of Biologyen
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. Fish Behaviour and Biodiversity Research Groupen
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. Marine Alliance for Science & Technology Scotlanden
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. Scottish Oceans Instituteen
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. Institute of Behavioural and Neural Sciencesen
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. St Andrews Sustainability Instituteen
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. Centre for Research into Ecological & Environmental Modellingen
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. Centre for Biological Diversityen
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1186/1741-7007-11-98
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden


This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record