Recolonization and succession in soft-sediment infaunal communities: the spatial scale of controlling factors
Zajac, R.N.; Whitlatch, R.B.; Thrush, S.F. (1998). Recolonization and succession in soft-sediment infaunal communities: the spatial scale of controlling factors, in: Baden, S. et al. Recruitment, colonization, and physical-chemical forcing in marine biological systems: Proceedings of the 32nd European Marine Biology Symposium, held in Lysekil, Sweden, 16-22 August 1997. Developments in Hydrobiology, 132: pp. 227-240. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-2864-5_19 In: Baden, S. et al. (1998). Recruitment, colonization, and physical-chemical forcing in marine biological systems: Proceedings of the 32nd European Marine Biology Symposium, held in Lysekil, Sweden, 16-22 August 1997. European Marine Biology Symposia, 32. Developments in Hydrobiology, 132. ISBN 978-0-7923-5273-0; e-ISBN 978-94-017-2864-5. IX, 380 pp. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-2864-5, more In: European Marine Biology Symposia., more Related to:Zajac, R.N.; Whitlatch, R.B.; Thrush, S.F. (1998). Recolonization and succession in soft-sediment infaunal communities: the spatial scale of controlling factors. Hydrobiologia 375: 227-240. https://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1017032200173, more |
| Keywords | Colonization
Ecological succession
Life history
Population dynamics
Properties > Sediment properties
Marine/Coastal |
| Authors | | Top | - Zajac, R.N.
- Whitlatch, R.B.
- Thrush, S.F.
| | |
| Abstract | Succession in marine soft-sediment habitats has been studied extensively and several general models of successional dynamics have been developed. However, few researchers have addressed how successional dynamics may change over different spatial scales. Here we extend a model that focuses on the factors that control recolonization and succession. These factors comprise three levels of a hierarchy which include environmental conditions, life history and population processes and biotic interactions. Using this hierarchical framework, we consider the spatial scales at which different factors operate, and argue that the relative mix and intensity of factors controlling succession change at different spatial scales. As a result, successional dynamics may vary considerably as the spatial scale of disturbance increases. At small scales, factors at each level of the hierarchy are important. The greater potential for biotic interactions at this scale may be particularly critical. At meso- to large scales, population processes and environmental conditions have the most influence on successional dynamics. Due to these differences, responses to small-scale (≲ 1 m2) as well as large-scale (≳ 1 hectare) disturbances may be quite variable. Within this range (≳ 1 m2 ≲ 1 hectare), short- and long-term responses to disturbance may be relatively more predictable and conform to current models of succession in soft-sediment habitats. |
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