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Related Experiment Videos

Toward ecologically explicit null models of nestedness.

Jeffrey E Moore1, Robert K Swihart

  • 1Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2061, USA. jemoore@duke.edu

Oecologia
|March 21, 2007
PubMed
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Nestedness in ecological communities is often overestimated. New null models reveal that most studied species assemblages are not truly nested beyond basic ecological principles like species-area relationships.

Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Community Ecology
  • Biodiversity Research

Background:

  • Nestedness describes how species assemblages in species-poor sites are subsets of those in species-rich sites.
  • Conventional null models for testing nestedness are often too restrictive, hindering accurate ecological inference.
  • There is a need for more ecologically explicit and interpretable null models to assess true nestedness.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose and validate a new class of ecologically explicit null models for testing species nestedness.
  • To develop an algorithm for constructing unbiased null matrices for hypothesis testing.
  • To reassess the prevalence of nestedness in ecological communities beyond passive sampling processes.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized expected values of species richness and incidence to generate random presence-absence matrices.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Employed an individually based random placement model and empirical models fitted to richness data.
  • Developed an algorithm for constructing unbiased null matrices to enable valid hypothesis testing.

    • Main Results:

    • Most studied species assemblages did not exhibit significant nestedness when assessed with the new null models.
    • The proposed null models allowed for explicit testing against fundamental ecological principles like species-area relationships.
    • Observed nestedness patterns were often explained by passive sampling processes rather than unique community assembly rules.

    Conclusions:

    • Nestedness, beyond patterns explained by species-abundance and species-area relationships, may be less common than previously thought.
    • The developed null models provide a more robust framework for determining true nestedness in ecological systems.
    • Findings enhance the utility of nestedness as a reliable ecological concept and conservation tool.