Monday, August 6, 2007 - 2:10 PMCOS 3-3: Intra-specific variability and fecundity: Potential impact on competition interactions and species coexistence in plant communities
Benoit Courbaud, Georges Kunstler, and Ghislain Vieilledent. Cemagref
Plant intra-specific variability blurs mean species differences and can modify local competition outcome. We tested implications of this process in plant communities with a two species meta-population model. Several juveniles of each species competed on patches of homogeneous environment. Competitive ability was drawn for each juvenile in a distribution corresponding to its species and the best juvenile on a patch won it whatever its species.
Variability did not favour coexistence systematically. It benefited to the species with lower mean competitive ability because it allowed it to produce a fraction of very competitive individuals and this effect was multiplied when fecundity was high. In cases of high fecundity and high variability, a species with lower mean competitive ability could indeed both colonize more sites and win more local contests than its competitor.
Intra-specific variability can have a huge impact on community dynamics and should be taken into account to describe species strategies.
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See more of The ESA/SER Joint Meeting (August 5 -- August 10, 2007)
See more of Contributed Oral and Poster Abstracts
See more of The ESA/SER Joint Meeting (August 5 -- August 10, 2007)