On the integration of biotic interaction and environmental constraints at the biogeographical scale

Type Article
Date 2016-10
Language English
Author(s) Cazelles KevinORCID1, 2, 3, Mouquet NicolasORCID3, Mouillot David4, 5, Gravel Dominique1, 2
Affiliation(s) 1 : Univ Quebec, Dept Biol Chim & Geog, 300 Allee Ursulines, Rimouski, PQ G5L 3A1, Canada.
2 : Quebec Ctr Biodivers Sci, Montreal, PQ, Canada.
3 : Univ Montpellier, Inst Sci Evolut, CNRS, UMR 5554, Pl E Bataillon,CC 065, FR-34095 Montpellier 5, France.
4 : Univ Montpellier, MARBEC MARine Biodiver Exploitat & Conservat, CC 093, Pl E Bataillon, FR-34095 Montpellier 5, France.
5 : James Cook Univ, Australian Res Council Ctr Excellence Coral Reef, Townsville, Qld 4811, Australia.
Source Ecography (0906-7590) (Wiley), 2016-10 , Vol. 39 , N. 10 , P. 921-931
DOI 10.1111/ecog.01714
WOS© Times Cited 29
Abstract Biogeography is primarily concerned with the spatial distribution of biodiversity, including performing scenarios in a changing environment. The efforts deployed to develop species distribution models have resulted in predictive tools, but have mostly remained correlative and have largely ignored biotic interactions. Here we build upon the theory of island biogeography as a first approximation to the assembly dynamics of local communities embedded within a metacommunity context. We include all types of interactions and introduce environmental constraints on colonization and extinction dynamics. We develop a probabilistic framework based on Markov chains and derive probabilities for the realization of species assemblages, rather than single species occurrences. We consider the expected distribution of species richness under different types of ecological interactions. We also illustrate the potential of our framework by studying the interplay between different ecological requirements, interactions and the distribution of biodiversity along an environmental gradient. Our framework supports the idea that the future research in biogeography requires a coherent integration of several ecological concepts into a single theory in order to perform conceptual and methodological innovations, such as the switch from single-species distribution to community distribution.
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