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Biodivers Conserv (2012) 21:13991409
DOI 10.1007/s10531-012-0251-0
ORIGINAL PAPER
Lander Baeten Pieter Vangansbeke Martin Hermy
George Peterken Kathleen Vanhuyse Kris Verheyen
Received: 8 November 2011 / Accepted: 23 January 2012 / Published online: 2 February 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012
Abstract Compositional changes through local extinction and colonization are inherent to natural communities, but human activities are increasingly inuencing the rate and nature of the species being lost and gained. Biotic homogenization refers to the process by which the compositional similarity of communities increases over time through a non-random reshufing of species. Despite the extensive conceptual development of the homogenization framework, approaches to quantify patterns of homogenization are scarcely developed. Most studies have used classical dissimilarity indices that actually quantify two components of compositional variation: turnover and nestedness. Here we demonstrate that a method that partitions those two components reveals patterns of homogenization that are otherwise obscured using traditional techniques. The forest understorey vegetation of an unmanaged reserve was recorded in permanent plots in 1979 and 2009. In only thirty years, the local species richness signicantly decreased and the variation in the species composition from site to site shifted towards a structure with reduced true species turnover and increased dissimilarity due to nestedness. A classic analysis masked those patterns. In summary, we illustrated the need to move beyond the simple quantication of
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10531-012-0251-0
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L. Baeten (&) P. Vangansbeke K. Verheyen
Department of Forest and Water Management, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090 Gontrode, Belgiume-mail: [email protected]
L. Baeten
Terrestrial Ecology Unit, Department of Biology, Ghent University, K.L. Legeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
M. Hermy K. Vanhuyse
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, K.U.Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
G. Peterken
Beechwood House, St. Briavels Common, Lydney, UK
Distinguishing between turnover and nestedness in the quantication of biotic homogenization
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homogenization using classical indices and advocate integration of the multitude of ways to quantify community similarity into the homogenization framework.
Keywords Vegetation resurvey Permanent plot Forest understorey
Beta diversity Global changes Succession
Introduction
The diversity and composition of species in local communities are fundamentally shaped by the colonization of species from...