Modeling vertical beta-diversity in tropical butterfly communities
نویسندگان
چکیده
We present a novel analytical method for assessing spatial and temporal structure in community samples that is useful for comparing large data-sets that include species abundance data. The model assumes that species numbers in two samples are drawn from a bi-variate Poisson log-normal species abundance distribution and parameters from the fitted distribution are estimated to assess community structure. We assessed three tropical butterfly data-sets for spatial structure in the vertical dimension, and tested for changes in structure as a result of temporal variance, disturbance regimes, and geographic location. Our results indicate that the vertical dimension is a major structural component in tropical forest butterfly communities that varies little through time and is not measurably affected by small-scale disturbances. However, there is evidence that the degree of vertical structure may vary among geographic regions. These results are discussed in terms of the mechanisms maintaining vertical structure, and the implications of changes in forest architecture on butterfly communities.
منابع مشابه
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