Dissertation Research: Regulation of Species Diversity by Assembly History in Ecological Communities

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Spatial scale poses a fundamental problem in understanding species diversity becausemechanisms creating variation in diversity change with scale. Ecological communities arestructured over time as well as patterned across space. Community assembly, how species joincommunities over time, not only poses another problem, but also is responsible for observedspatial patterns. It is not well known how species diversity, community assembly, and spatialscale relate. This project examines three factors that may determine the degree to whichassembly contributes to diversity at different spatial scales. The number of species in theregional species pool, the amount of nutrients available to communities, and the number ofdisturbance types imposed on communities may all play important roles. Hypotheses addressingthese factors will be developed through computer simulations and tested through laboratoryexperiments using bacteria, protists, and rotifers. These approaches, unlike most field studies,ensure rigorous control over invasion sequence and environmental conditions and monitorcommunity dynamics over many generations. Overall, this project will provide an assembly-based model explaining species diversity. Adding temporal dynamics of community assembly toour perspective will enable ecologists to better understand how and when spatial scale is criticalin assessing the regulation of species diversity.