Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/119116
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- Title
- Niche conservatism as an emerging principle in ecology and conservation biology
- Related
- Ecology letters, Vol. 13, No. 10 (2010), p.1310-1324
- DOI
- 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2010.01515.x
- Publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Date
- 2010
- FoR/RFCD Code(s)
-
050100 Ecological Applications
060200 Ecology
050200 Environmental Science and Management
- Author/Creator
- Wiens, John J
- Author/Creator
- Ackerly, David D
- Author/Creator
- Hawkins, Bradford A
- Author/Creator
- Holt, Robert D
- Author/Creator
- McCain, Christy M
- Author/Creator
- Stephens, Patrick R
- Author/Creator
- Allen, Andrew P
- Author/Creator
- Anacker, Brian L
- Author/Creator
- Buckley, Lauren B
- Author/Creator
- Cornell, Howard V
- Author/Creator
- Damschen, Ellen I
- Author/Creator
- Davies, T. Jonathan
- Author/Creator
- Grytnes, John-Arvid
- Author/Creator
- Harrison, Susan P
- Description
- The diversity of life is ultimately generated by evolution, and much attention has focused on the rapid evolution of ecological traits. Yet, the tendency for many ecological traits to instead remain similar over time [niche conservatism (NC)] has many consequences for the fundamental patterns and processes studied in ecology and conservation biology. Here, we describe the mounting evidence for the importance of NC to major topics in ecology (e.g. species richness, ecosystem function) and conservation (e.g. climate change, invasive species). We also review other areas where it may be important but has generally been overlooked, in both ecology (e.g. food webs, disease ecology, mutualistic interactions) and conservation (e.g. habitat modification). We summarize methods for testing for NC, and suggest that a commonly used and advocated method (involving a test for phylogenetic signal) is potentially problematic, and describe alternative approaches. We suggest that considering NC: (1) focuses attention on the within-species processes that cause traits to be conserved over time, (2) emphasizes connections between questions and research areas that are not obviously related (e.g. invasives, global warming, tropical richness), and (3) suggests new areas for research (e.g. why are some clades largely nocturnal? why do related species share diseases?).
- Description
- 15 page(s)
- Subject Keyword
- 050100 Ecological Applications
- Subject Keyword
- 060200 Ecology
- Subject Keyword
- 050200 Environmental Science and Management
- Subject Keyword
- climate change
- Subject Keyword
- community assembly
- Subject Keyword
- conservation
- Subject Keyword
- disease ecology
- Subject Keyword
- food webs
- Subject Keyword
- habitat destruction
- Subject Keyword
- invasive species
- Subject Keyword
- niche conservatism
- Subject Keyword
- phylogeny
- Subject Keyword
- species richness
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Organisation
- Macquarie University. Dept. of Biological Sciences
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/119116
- Identifier
- ISSN:1461-023X
- Identifier
- mq-rm-2010004158
- Language
- eng
- Reviewed
