Accounting for effects of growth rate when measuring ecological stability in response to pulse perturbations
Abstract Ecological stability is a vital component of natural ecosystems that can inform effective conservation and ecosystem management. Furthermore, there is increasing interest in making comparisons of stability values across sites, systems and taxonomic groups, often using comparative synthetic...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2024-10-01
|
| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.11637 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850053123411804160 |
|---|---|
| author | Andrea Mentges Adam Thomas Clark Shane A. Blowes Charlotte Kunze Helmut Hillebrand Jonathan M. Chase |
| author_facet | Andrea Mentges Adam Thomas Clark Shane A. Blowes Charlotte Kunze Helmut Hillebrand Jonathan M. Chase |
| author_sort | Andrea Mentges |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Ecological stability is a vital component of natural ecosystems that can inform effective conservation and ecosystem management. Furthermore, there is increasing interest in making comparisons of stability values across sites, systems and taxonomic groups, often using comparative synthetic approaches, such as meta‐analysis. However, these synthetic approaches often compare/contrast systems where measures of stability mean very different things to the taxa involved. Here, we present results from theoretical models and empirical data to illustrate how differences in growth rates among taxa influence four widely used metrics of ecological stability of species abundances responding to pulse perturbations: resilience, recovery, resistance and temporal stability. We refer to these classic growth‐rate‐dependent metrics as ‘realised’ stability. We show that realised resilience and realised temporal stability vary as a function of organisms' growth rates; realised recovery depends on the relation between growth rate and sampling duration; and realised resistance depends on the relation between growth rate and sampling interval. To account for these influences, we introduce metrics intended to be more independent of growth rates, which we refer to as ‘intrinsic’ stability. Intrinsic stability can be used to summarise the overall effects of a disturbance, separately from internal recovery processes – thereby allowing more general comparisons of disturbances across organisms and contexts. We argue that joint consideration of both realised and intrinsic stability is important for future comparative studies. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-26693100654c4572a3b5ae4633e1a4e7 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-10-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj-art-26693100654c4572a3b5ae4633e1a4e72025-08-20T02:52:37ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582024-10-011410n/an/a10.1002/ece3.11637Accounting for effects of growth rate when measuring ecological stability in response to pulse perturbationsAndrea Mentges0Adam Thomas Clark1Shane A. Blowes2Charlotte Kunze3Helmut Hillebrand4Jonathan M. Chase5German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle‐Jena‐Leipzig Leipzig GermanyInstitute of Biology, University of Graz Graz AustriaGerman Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle‐Jena‐Leipzig Leipzig GermanyInstitute for Chemistry and Biology of Marine Environments [ICBM] Carl‐von‐Ossietzky University Oldenburg Wilhelmshaven GermanyInstitute for Chemistry and Biology of Marine Environments [ICBM] Carl‐von‐Ossietzky University Oldenburg Wilhelmshaven GermanyGerman Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle‐Jena‐Leipzig Leipzig GermanyAbstract Ecological stability is a vital component of natural ecosystems that can inform effective conservation and ecosystem management. Furthermore, there is increasing interest in making comparisons of stability values across sites, systems and taxonomic groups, often using comparative synthetic approaches, such as meta‐analysis. However, these synthetic approaches often compare/contrast systems where measures of stability mean very different things to the taxa involved. Here, we present results from theoretical models and empirical data to illustrate how differences in growth rates among taxa influence four widely used metrics of ecological stability of species abundances responding to pulse perturbations: resilience, recovery, resistance and temporal stability. We refer to these classic growth‐rate‐dependent metrics as ‘realised’ stability. We show that realised resilience and realised temporal stability vary as a function of organisms' growth rates; realised recovery depends on the relation between growth rate and sampling duration; and realised resistance depends on the relation between growth rate and sampling interval. To account for these influences, we introduce metrics intended to be more independent of growth rates, which we refer to as ‘intrinsic’ stability. Intrinsic stability can be used to summarise the overall effects of a disturbance, separately from internal recovery processes – thereby allowing more general comparisons of disturbances across organisms and contexts. We argue that joint consideration of both realised and intrinsic stability is important for future comparative studies.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.11637comparative analysisevidence synthesisgrowth rate dependencemeta‐analysisstability measures |
| spellingShingle | Andrea Mentges Adam Thomas Clark Shane A. Blowes Charlotte Kunze Helmut Hillebrand Jonathan M. Chase Accounting for effects of growth rate when measuring ecological stability in response to pulse perturbations Ecology and Evolution comparative analysis evidence synthesis growth rate dependence meta‐analysis stability measures |
| title | Accounting for effects of growth rate when measuring ecological stability in response to pulse perturbations |
| title_full | Accounting for effects of growth rate when measuring ecological stability in response to pulse perturbations |
| title_fullStr | Accounting for effects of growth rate when measuring ecological stability in response to pulse perturbations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Accounting for effects of growth rate when measuring ecological stability in response to pulse perturbations |
| title_short | Accounting for effects of growth rate when measuring ecological stability in response to pulse perturbations |
| title_sort | accounting for effects of growth rate when measuring ecological stability in response to pulse perturbations |
| topic | comparative analysis evidence synthesis growth rate dependence meta‐analysis stability measures |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.11637 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT andreamentges accountingforeffectsofgrowthratewhenmeasuringecologicalstabilityinresponsetopulseperturbations AT adamthomasclark accountingforeffectsofgrowthratewhenmeasuringecologicalstabilityinresponsetopulseperturbations AT shaneablowes accountingforeffectsofgrowthratewhenmeasuringecologicalstabilityinresponsetopulseperturbations AT charlottekunze accountingforeffectsofgrowthratewhenmeasuringecologicalstabilityinresponsetopulseperturbations AT helmuthillebrand accountingforeffectsofgrowthratewhenmeasuringecologicalstabilityinresponsetopulseperturbations AT jonathanmchase accountingforeffectsofgrowthratewhenmeasuringecologicalstabilityinresponsetopulseperturbations |