The stability of a benthic community of soft sediment
Gray, J.S.; Valderhaug, V.; Ugland, K.I. (1985). The stability of a benthic community of soft sediment, in: Gibbs, P.E. (Ed.) Proceedings of the 19th European Marine Biology Symposium, Plymouth, Devon, UK, 16-21 September 1984. pp. 245-254 In: Gibbs, P.E. (Ed.) (1985). Proceedings of the Nineteenth European Marine Biology Symposium, Plymouth, Devon, UK, 16-21 September 1984. European Marine Biology Symposia, 19. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. ISBN 0-521-30294-3. 541 pp., more In: European Marine Biology Symposia., more |  |
| Available in | Authors | | Document type: Conference paper
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| Authors | | Top | - Gray, J.S., more
- Valderhaug, V.
- Ugland, K.I.
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| Abstract | An Oslofjord benthic community showed a range of variability for its constituent populations from small to large fluctuations over a two-year period. The five common species completing at least one turnover of all individuals within the time span studied showed stable equilibria, being persistent within bounds of ±10% of the transformed mean. Althougb rare species were highly variable in abundance and the dominance patterns of common species changed over time, overall, the community showed a consistent pattern of tbe distribution of individuals among species. Adjustment occurred within the cominunity so that increases in the abundance of some species were accompanied by decreases in the abundance of others to maintain the overall pattern. It is suggested that this consistency of pattern describes a community at dynamical equilibrium where species are able to fluctuate in abundance but, by means of adjustment of densities, a stable pattern holds. |
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