Mechanisms of invasions: can the recipient community influence invasion rates?
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Piers K. Dunstan
Abstract
At least since Elton's work in the 1950s it has been argued that properties of recipient communities influence invasion rates. The widespread view, initiated by Elton and later supported by both empirical and modelling studies, is that species-rich communities are more resistant to invasion than species-poor communities in otherwise identical habitats. However, the dynamics of some empirical systems do not support this idea, but reveal instead a positive relationship between species richness and invasion, reflecting the particular attributes of component species and their interactions. These findings cannot be explained solely by Shea and Chesson's (2002) attempt to reconcile divergent observations of both positive and negative relationships between invasion rates and richness of the recipient community. Here, based on the behaviours of several models, we develop an alternative view that invasion success is related positively to variability in resource availability. This variability can arise in many ways, dependent in part on the life history features of component species, the nature of interactions among species, and the spatial arrangement of individuals on a landscape. Our overall conclusion is that the ability of a community to resist the establishment of new populations comes not from species richness, diversity or the average connectivity of the system per se, but from the ability of established species to utilise the maximum amount of resources in the long term and realise the smallest amount of variability in resource availability. We argue that seaweed communities adhere to this principle.
©2007 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York
Articles in the same Issue
- Structure of this issue
- Is the cryptic alien seaweed Ulva pertusa (Ulvales, Chlorophyta) widely distributed along European Atlantic coasts?
- Daily timing of emersion and elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration affect photosynthetic performance of the intertidal macroalga Ulva lactuca (Chlorophyta) in sunlight
- Yucatán seaweeds from the offshore waters of Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo, Mexico
- Dictyota dolabellana sp. nov. (Dictyotaceae, Phaeophyceae) based on morphological and chemical data
- Rostrupiella danica gen. et sp. nov., a Lulworthia-like marine lignicolous species from Denmark and the USA
- Ascoma development in the marine ascomycete Corollospora gracilis (Halosphaeriales, Hypocreomycetidae, Sordariomycetes)
- Low-molecular-mass carbohydrates and soluble polysaccharides of green and red morphs of Gracilaria domingensis (Gracilariales, Rhodophyta)
- Seaweed invasions: introduction and scope
- Introductions of seaweeds: accidental transfer pathways and mechanisms
- Intentional introductions of commercially harvested alien seaweeds
- Mechanisms of invasion: establishment, spread and persistence of introduced seaweed populations
- Mechanisms of invasions: can the recipient community influence invasion rates?
- Methods for identifying and tracking seaweed invasions
- Molecular approaches to the study of invasive seaweeds
- Impacts of introduced seaweeds
- Control of invasive seaweeds
- Invasive seaweeds: global and regional law and policy responses
- Seaweed invasions: conclusions and future directions
- Author information Special Issue Seaweed Invasions
- Subject index Special Issue Seaweed Invasions
- Reviewer acknowledgement Bot. Mar. volume 50 (2007)
- Contents index Bot. Mar. volume 50 (2007)
- Author index Bot. Mar. volume 50 (2007)
- Genus/Species index Bot. Mar. volume 50 (2007)
Articles in the same Issue
- Structure of this issue
- Is the cryptic alien seaweed Ulva pertusa (Ulvales, Chlorophyta) widely distributed along European Atlantic coasts?
- Daily timing of emersion and elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration affect photosynthetic performance of the intertidal macroalga Ulva lactuca (Chlorophyta) in sunlight
- Yucatán seaweeds from the offshore waters of Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo, Mexico
- Dictyota dolabellana sp. nov. (Dictyotaceae, Phaeophyceae) based on morphological and chemical data
- Rostrupiella danica gen. et sp. nov., a Lulworthia-like marine lignicolous species from Denmark and the USA
- Ascoma development in the marine ascomycete Corollospora gracilis (Halosphaeriales, Hypocreomycetidae, Sordariomycetes)
- Low-molecular-mass carbohydrates and soluble polysaccharides of green and red morphs of Gracilaria domingensis (Gracilariales, Rhodophyta)
- Seaweed invasions: introduction and scope
- Introductions of seaweeds: accidental transfer pathways and mechanisms
- Intentional introductions of commercially harvested alien seaweeds
- Mechanisms of invasion: establishment, spread and persistence of introduced seaweed populations
- Mechanisms of invasions: can the recipient community influence invasion rates?
- Methods for identifying and tracking seaweed invasions
- Molecular approaches to the study of invasive seaweeds
- Impacts of introduced seaweeds
- Control of invasive seaweeds
- Invasive seaweeds: global and regional law and policy responses
- Seaweed invasions: conclusions and future directions
- Author information Special Issue Seaweed Invasions
- Subject index Special Issue Seaweed Invasions
- Reviewer acknowledgement Bot. Mar. volume 50 (2007)
- Contents index Bot. Mar. volume 50 (2007)
- Author index Bot. Mar. volume 50 (2007)
- Genus/Species index Bot. Mar. volume 50 (2007)
