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Spatial effects on species persistence and implications for biodiversity.

Enrico Bertuzzo¹, Samir Suweis, Lorenzo Mari

¹Laboratory of Ecohydrology, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

|March 4, 2011

Summary

This study reveals a new macroecological pattern in species persistence times, showing consistent power-law scaling across different species and scales. This finding highlights underlying symmetries in ecosystem dynamics.

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Area of Science:

Ecology
Macroecology
Theoretical Ecology

Background:

Natural ecosystems display complex diversity but also emergent symmetries across scales.
Existing patterns like species-area relationships are well-documented.
Local species persistence times (time between colonization and extinction) represent a less explored macroecological aspect.

Purpose of the Study:

To identify and characterize a new macroecological pattern in the distribution of local species persistence times.
To investigate the theoretical underpinnings of this pattern and its relationship with ecosystem dynamics.
To link temporal patterns of species persistence with spatial patterns like species-area relationships.

Main Methods:

Empirical analysis of local species persistence times for birds and plants, accounting for observation limits.
Development of a theoretical framework to model scaling features based on spatial interaction networks.
Comparison of empirical scaling exponents with predictions from existing models and theoretical simulations.

Main Results:

Empirical data for birds and plants exhibit power-law scaling in local species persistence times, with a cutoff related to new species emergence.
The observed scaling exponents are statistically similar across taxa and spatial scales, and differ from existing model predictions.
Theoretical modeling shows that a two-dimensional isotropic texture reproduces the empirical scaling exponents, irrespective of specific ecological interactions.

Conclusions:

A novel macroecological pattern in species persistence time distributions has been identified, characterized by power-law scaling.
The findings suggest that the structure of spatial interaction networks, particularly isotropic textures, plays a key role in shaping these temporal patterns.
The coherence between spatial and temporal macroecological patterns indicates a general feature of ecosystem dynamical evolution.