1. A prominent and unresolved question in ecology concerns why communities differ in their susceptibility to invasion. While studies often emphasize biotic resistance, it is less widely appreciated how the physical environment affects community vulnerability to invasion. 2. In this study we performed field experiments to test how abiotic variation directly and indirectly influences the extent t...

Spatially separated ecosystems are often linked by nutrient fluxes. Nutrient inputs may be transferred by physical vectors (i.e., wind and water) or by biotic vectors. In this study, we examine the role of green turtles (Chelonia mydas) as biotic transporters of nutrients from marine to terrestrial ecosystems, where they deposit eggs. We compare low and high nest density sites at Tortuguero, Co...

Inferring biotic interactions from functional, phylogenetic and geographical proxies remains one great challenge in ecology. We propose a conceptual framework to infer the backbone of biotic interaction networks within regional species pools. First, interacting groups are identified to order links and remove forbidden interactions between species. Second, additional links are removed by examina...

periodicals all over the world. Before further advance in tuberculosis research can be made, it is necessary to summarize the results already achieved; this is one of the aims of this book. Another of my objectives is to point out unsolved problems in the bacteriology of tuberculosis and to indicate recently developed experimental methods for the study of the tubercle bacilli." For the young sc...

Description of the subject. Weed pressure is a main biotic constraint in tropical agriculture. Cover crop mixtures have increased popularity to limit weed growth through competition for resources, but relationship between cover diversity and suppression still under debate. Objectives. This study aimed assess impact increasing (one four species) on control during two growing seasons (tropical su...

Little is known about the relative importance of environmental, biotic, historical, and spatial factors that influence invasive plant abundance, dominance, and distribution across landscapes. We identified factors that influence the abundance and dominance of Potentilla recta L. (sulfur cinquefoil) in bunchgrass grasslands of northeastern Oregon to better understand the conditions under which i...

Biotic recoveries following mass extinctions are characterized by a complex set of dynamics, including the rebuilding of whole ecologies from low-diversity assemblages of survivors and opportunistic species. Three broad classes of diversity dynamics during recovery have been suggested: an immediate linear response, a logistic recovery, and a simple positive feedback pattern of species interacti...

BIOTIC INTERACTIONS INFLUENCING SHRUB ESTABLISHMENT ON AN ATLANTIC COAST BARRIER ISLAND. Elucidating mechanisms influencing the establishment of woody species is essential for understanding community dynamics and successional processes on barrier islands. The relative intensity of facilitation and inhibition of grasses on seedling establishment of two woody species common to Atlantic Coast barr...