Metacommunity
An
community ecology
, which is primarily concerned with patterns of species distribution, abundance and interactions. Metacommunity ecology combines the importance of local factors (environmental conditions, competition, predation) and regional factors (dispersal of individuals, immigration, emigration) to explain patterns of species distributions that happen in different spatial scales.
There are four theoretical frameworks, or unifying themes, that each detail specific mechanistic processes useful for predicting empirical community patterns. These are the
demographic processes and dispersal limitation.[5] The neutral perspective was recently popularized by Stephen P. Hubbell
following his groundbreaking work on the unified neutral theory of biodiversity.
References
- ^ Gilpin, M.E. and I.A. Hanski (1991). Metapopulation dynamics: Empirical and Theoretical Investigations. Academic Press, London.
- ^ Wilson, D.S. (1992). Complex interactions in metacommunities, with implications for biodiversity and higher levels of selection. Ecology, 73: 1984-2000.
- ^ Leibold, M.A., M. Holyoak, N. Mouquet and others (2004). The metacommunity concept: a framework for multi-scale community ecology. Ecology Letters, 7: 601-613.
- ISBN 9780226350646.
- OCLC 956448724.