Mechanisms of plant species co-existence in species-rich ecosystems: testing hypotheses using spatially-explicit field data and computer models

植物物种在物种丰富的生态系统中共存的机制：利用空间明确的野外数据和计算机模型测试假设。物种在高多样性群落中共存的普遍解释是生态学中尚未解决的突出问题之一。目前的假设不能满足其普遍性；空间影响没有充分的经验探索，假设不能在一个共同的框架内检验。空间分析和复杂系统建模的进步使得寻找一个普遍的解释成为可能。该项目将利用空间统计、散布、补充、竞争和草食的经验/实验研究以及物种丰富的澳大利亚灌木群落群落的空间明确计算机模拟模型来参数化和测试不同的共存假设。

Mechanisms of plant species co-existence in species-rich ecosystems: testing hypotheses using spatially-explicit field data and computer models. A generally accepted explanation for the co-existence of species in high diversity communities is one of the outstanding unresolved issues in ecology. Current hypotheses fail to satisfy in their generality; spatial implications are inadequately explored empirically, and the hypotheses are not testable within a common framework. Advances in spatial analysis and complex system modelling now make the search for a general explanation feasible. This project will parameterise and test the different co-existence hypotheses using spatial statistics, empirical/experimental studies of dispersal, recruitment, competition and herbivory, and spatially-explicit computer simulation models of community assemblage in species-rich Australian shrubland communities.