Metacommunity Ecology, Volume 59

Mathew A. Leibold is professor of integrative biology at the University of Texas at Austin. Jonathan M. Chase is professor of biodiversity synthesis at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research. They are the authors of Ecological Niches: Linking Classical and Contemporary Approaches.

Preface xi

1. Introduction: The Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of Metacommunity Ecology 1

1.1. The indelible influence of scale 3

1.2. The metacommunity framework allows simultaneous consideration of multiple processes at multiple scales 5

1.3. Discrete versus continuous metacommunities 9

1.4. A brief history of metacommunity ecology 13

1.5. MacArthur's paradox: Determinism versus stochasticity and the null model wars 15

1.6. Reemergence of the metacommunity perspective: 1990s and 2000s 18

1.7. A prospectus for metacommunity ecology: What are we trying to do in this book? 19

1.8. Moving forward: Overview of the rest of the book 20

1.9. A final note on our assumptions 21

2. The Theories of Metacommunities 23

2.1. An overview and critical analysis of the four archetypes of metacommunity ecology 27

2.2. Comparing and contrasting the archetypes 34

2.3. Exploring metacommunity ecology at the interface of the archetypes 37

2.4. Is there an "ubermodel"? 42

2.5. The influence of local coexistence mechanisms 46

2.6. Conclusions 47

3. Processes in Metacommunities 49

3.1. Resource utilization and response 51

3.2. Evidence for demographic stochasticity and drift 54

3.3. Dispersal limitation 62

3.4. Interactions between stochasticity, dispersal, and interspecific effects 74

3.5. The influence of habitat heterogeneity 77

3.6. Interactions between habitat heterogeneity and dispersal 84

3.7. Implications for local versus regional controls on diversity 87

3.8. Conclusions and synthesis 88

4. Metacommunity Patterns in Space 90

4.1. Patterns of SADs and related diversity metrics 92

4.2. Null models and co-occurrence in metacommunities 94

4.3. Elements of metacommunity structure 99

4.4. Using variation partitioning to diagnose spatial, environmental, and random effects 106

4.5. Variation in the relative importance of metacommunity-structuring processes 112

4.6. Factors that influence variation in metacommunity patterns 117

4.7. Contributions of different species and different localities to the overall metacommunity pattern 126

4.8. How well can we hope to do in explaining metacommunity structure? 127

4.9. Caveats and conclusions 129

5. Interactions between Time and Space in Metacommunities 131

5.1. Temporal turnover: What does theory predict? 133

5.2. Patterns of temporal turnover 135

5.3. How time can influence deterministic community assembly 140

5.4. Priority effects and multiple stable equilibria in metacommunities 141

5.5. Endpoint assembly cycles 144

5.6. Frequency-dependent
coexistence in spatially continuous metacommunities 147

5.7. Conclusions 149

6. What Can Functional Traits and Phylogenies Tell Us about Coexistence in Metacommunities? 151

6.1. A brief history of trait-and phylogeny-based "assembly rules" 154

6.2. The correlation between phylogenetic and trait-based information and "real" metacommunity processes 158

6.3. Trait and phylogenetic over-or underdispersion: What does coexistence theory predict? 162

6.4. Phylogenetic and functional-trait dispersions in a simple SS metacommunity 167

6.5. Phylogenetic and trait dispersions in non-SS metacommunity archetypes 173

6.6. Conclusions 175

7. Combining Taxonomic and Functional-Trait Patterns to Disentangle Metacommunity Assembly Processes 177

7.1. Using functional information to enhance taxonomic pattern analysis 179

7.2. Using functional information to enhance analyses of change through space or time 184

7.3. Toward a trait-based theory of metacommunity assembly 189

7.4. Closing the loop: Predicting species abundance and distribution from traits 197

7.5. Conclusions 200

8. Eco-evolutionary Dynamics in Metacommunities 202

8.1. Building an evolutionary ecology of metacommunities 204

8.2. Adaptive evolution in metapopulations and metacommunities 205

8.3. The community monopolization hypothesis 207

8.4. Evolution toward neutrality 219

8.5. Frequency-dependent evolution 226

8.6. The interaction of community monopolization and neutral evolution 228

8.7. The interaction between community monopolization and neutral evolution in the "real" world? 233

8.8. Conclusions 236

9. Macroevolution in Metacommunities 239

9.1. How metacommunity processes influence phylogeny and radiations 241

9.2. Historical effects 245

9.3. Synthesis: A research agenda for integrating evolutionary and ecological processes that affect biodiversity 250

9.4. Conclusions 254

10. The Macroecology of Metacommunities 255

10.1. What is macroecology? 257

10.2 Synthesizing biodiversity macroecology processes and patterns 262

10.3 Dissecting biodiversity macroecology patterns 267

10.4. The role of metacommunity assembly processes in biodiversity macroecology patterns 274

10.5. Diversity partitioning and the SAR 276

10.6. Metacommunity assembly and the nested SAR 277

10.7. Metacommunity assembly and the ISAR 279

10.8. Biodiversity in the Anthropocene 283

10.9. Metacommunities and contemporary biogeography: Scale-dependent patterns of species diversity along ecological gradients 294

10.10. Other macroecological patterns 300

10.11. Conclusions 301

11. Food Webs in Metacommunities 303

11.1. How do spatial processes and trophic interactions combine to influence coexistence in simple metacommunities? 304

11.2. How do trophic interactions influence metacommunity processes? 306

11.3. Toward a theory for trophically structured metacommunities 310

11.4. Spatial processes and May's diversity-stability theory 319

11.5. Frequency dependence and feedbacks between trophic interactions and spatial processes 324

11.6. Food-web metacommunity assembly processes and the scale-dependent productivity-diversity relationship 327

11.7. The influence of metacommunity processes on food-web structure and indirect interactions 332

11.8. Conclusions 333

12. Community Assembly and the Functioning of Ecosystems in Metacommunities 335

12.1. The role of spatial processes in mediating BEF relationships 339

12.2. A simple framework based on resource competition in a metacommunity context 342

12.3. Ecosystems within metacommunities as CASs? 359

12.4. Do ecosystems have regular features? 363

12.5. Conclusions 368

13. From Metacommunities to Metaecosystems 369

13.1. Why spatial dynamics are so important in ecosystems 371

13.2. Elements of metaecosystems ecology 373

13.3. An emerging set of principles? 377

13.4. Conclusions 379

14. A Coming Transition in Metacommunity Ecology 380

14.1. The accomplishments of metacommunity ecology version 1.x 382

14.2. Synthesis through metacommunity ecology 384

14.3. The current status and limitations of metacommunity version 1.9 385

14.4. Going from version 1.9 to version 2.0 387

14.5. From basic to applied metacommunity ecology 389

14.6. Conclusions 391

References 393

Index 465