Community Ecology
Volume/Issue:
Volume 4: Issue 1
Are ecotone properties scale-dependent? A test from a Nothofagus treeline in southern New Zealand
Authors:
C.J. Stowe Botany Department, University of Otago P.O. Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand

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W.D. Kissling Landscape Ecology and Biodiversity Conservation, Botanical Institute and Botanical Garden, University of Greifswald Grimmerstr. 88, 17489 Greifswald, Germany

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R. Ohlem Botany Department, University of Otago P.O. Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand

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et al.
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Pages:
35–42
Online Publication Date:
22 Jul 2005
Publication Date:
01 Jun 2003
Article Category:
Research Article
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1556/comec.4.2003.1.4
Keywords:
Dissimilarity; Dissimilarity; Species richness; boundary; Exotic species; Heterogeneity; Spatial grain; Species-area relations
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Species richness, the location of exotic species and heterogeneity (investigated via dissimilarity and via species-area relations) were investigated in relation to spatial scale, in an ecotone between Nothofagus forest and sub-alpine shrubland. The rate of change in ordination score as well as tree diameter and the dripline were used to locate the position of the ecotone. Patterns of species richness were largely scale-independent, with species richness lowest in the forest community, intermediate in the ecotone, highest a short distance into the shrubland, and lower again in the shrubland further from the ecotone. High richness just into the shrubland is attributed to the existence of a fine-scale spatial mosaic pattern of vegetation, though the spatial mass effect may have a role. Exotic species were absent in the forest, but occurred sparsely in the ecotone and in the shrubland, possibly with decreasing frequency away from the ecotone. Community pattern, expressed by species-based dissimilarity and species-area curves, also differed. The ecotone community was the most heterogeneous (indicated by higher dissimilarity values and a steeper species-area slope with higher Arrhenius z-values), with the forest the least heterogeneous and the shrubland intermediate. We conclude that z-values are inter-woven with both habitat and spatial scale, and that this argues against a universal relationship between species and area.

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Cover Community Ecology
Community Ecology An Interdisciplinary Journal Reporting Progress in Community and Population Studies
Print ISSN:
1585-8553
Online ISSN:
1588-2756

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Community Ecology
Language English
Size A4
Year of
Foundation		 2000
Volumes
per Year		 1
Issues
per Year		 3
Founder Akadémiai Kiadó
Founder's
Address		 H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245
Publisher Akadémiai Kiadó
Springer Nature Switzerland AG
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Address		 H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245.
CH-6330 Cham, Switzerland Gewerbestrasse 11.
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Publisher		 Chief Executive Officer, Akadémiai Kiadó
ISSN 1585-8553 (Print)
ISSN 1588-2756 (Online)

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