The influence of dispersal on zooplankton communities

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Many of the world's ecosystems have been altered by human activities, often resulting in severe environmental impacts, with declines in biodiversity frequently identified as one of the most serious repercussions. Ecologists are, therefore, faced with the challenge of predicting how ecosystems will respond to environmental change. Local factors such as competition, predation, and environmental conditions clearly play an important role in structuring communities. However, over the past decade there has been a paradigm shift, with ecologists becoming increasingly aware of the important role that dispersal plays in shaping community composition. Dispersal of individuals among habitat patches can provide an increased source of both species and genetic variation that enable communities to respond to environmental change.