Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Volume 281, Issue 1777, Pages -Publisher
ROYAL SOC
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2013.1993
Keywords
beta-diversity; Bray-Curtis; disturbance; long-term monitoring; mantel; time series
Categories
Funding
- Australian Government's National Environmental Research Program (NERP)
- Marine Biodiversity Hub
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The 'diversity-stability hypothesis', in which higher species diversity within biological communities buffers the risk of ecological collapse, is now generally accepted. However, empirical evidence for a relationship between beta-diversity (spatial turnover in community structure) and temporal stability in community structure remains equivocal, despite important implications for theoretical ecology and conservation biology. Here, we report strong beta-diversity-stability relationships across a broad sample of fish taxa on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. These relationships were robust to random sampling error and spatial and environmental factors, such as latitude, reef size and isolation. While beta-diversity was positively associated with temporal stability at the community level, the relationship was negative for some taxa, for example surgeonfishes (Acanthuridae), one of the most abundant reef fish families. This demonstrates that the beta-diversity-stability relationship should not be indiscriminately assumed for all taxa, but that a species' risk of extirpation in response to disturbance is likely to be taxon specific and trait based. By combining predictions of spatial and temporal turnover across the study area with observations in marine-protected areas, we conclude that protection alone does not necessarily confer temporal stability and that taxon-specific considerations will improve the outcome of conservation efforts.
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