Competition components along productivity gradients – revisiting a classic dispute in ecology

Revisiting competition in a classic model system using formal links between theory and data.

Formal links between theory and data are a critical goal for ecology. However, while our current understanding of competition provides the foundation for solving many derived ecological problems, this understanding is fractured because competition theory and data are rarely unified. Conclusions from seminal studies in space-limited benthic marine systems, in particular, have been very influenti...

Vegetation Productivity in Natural vs. Cultivated Systems along Water Availability Gradients in the Dry Subtropics

The dry subtropics are subject to a rapid expansion of crops and pastures over vast areas of natural woodlands and savannas. In this paper, we explored the effect of this transformation on vegetation productivity (magnitude, and seasonal and long-term variability) along aridity gradients which span from semiarid to subhumid conditions, considering exclusively those areas with summer rains (>66%...

A statistical view of synthesizing patterns of species richness along productivity gradients: devils, forests, and trees.

Revisiting some Productivity Debates

Researchers interested in estimating productivity can choose from an array of methodologies, each with its strengths and weaknesses. I evaluate five widely used techniques; two nonparametric, index numbers and data envelopment analysis, and three parametric methods, instrumental variables estimation, stochastic frontiers, and semi-parametric estimation. Using two samples of manufacturing firms ...

Soil carbon stabilization along climate and stand productivity gradients in black spruce forests of interior Alaska1

The amount of soil organic carbon (SOC) in stable, slow-turnover pools is likely to change in response to climate warming because processes mediating soil C balance (net primary production and decomposition) vary with environmental conditions. This is important to consider in boreal forests, which constitute one of the world’s largest stocks of SOC. We investigated changes in soil C stabilizati...