News Section | Environment

Study confirms species form new communities rapidly on lands ravaged by nature’s forces

Monday, May 28th, 2007

May 28 : A new study by a University of New Mexico ecologist has corroborated the theory that when natural occurrences like bush fire, lava/glacial flow creates an empty habitat, species do turn over most rapidly early in ‘succession’.

Succession is the process in which species arrive, interact and assemble to form a new ecological community.

However, adverse conditions—such as isolation of the new community or an unfavourable climate often hinders the arrival of new species, thereby slowing the rate at which the community fills with species, sometimes causing peak rates of change to occur later in succession.

As part of her study, Kristina Anderson first developed a method for quantifying rates of community change and how these vary as the community ages.

She then collected data on over 60 different communities and documented the changes in species composition throughout succession.

Using these results, she related temporal patterns in rates of community change to processes that limit colonization and persistence of species: competition, harsh environmental conditions, and difficulty in getting to the site.

“Understanding how quickly new ecological communities develop is fundamental to numerous ecological questions ranging from, ‘How often should fires or clear cuts be allowed on landscapes”‘ to ‘What determines how many species are found on an island”‘ yet we were unable to make many generalizations about succession rate. That is what motivated this study,” said Anderson.

“We still have many unanswered questions regarding rates of succession. My hope is that this study will inspire and inform future research on succession rate,” she however, said.

According to her, the research provides a framework to understand why communities mature at different rates.

The study, “Temporal patterns in rates of community change during succession”, is scheduled for publication in the June issue of the American Naturalist. (ANI)

Disclaimer: Bioscholar is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. The articles are based on peer reviewed research, and discoveries/products mentioned in the articles may not be approved by the regulatory bodies.

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