Species change

With mode change (also: types turnover or species turnover ), the composition of a change in the biology of the community a defined habitat by adventitious species designated. Species that have so far been poorly represented (with no chance) or immigrant species that assert themselves in a habitat can push back or displace existing and previously dominant species (mainly through competition ), so that these occur less often and locally or regionally become extinct. Change of species also includes purely random, stochastic shifts in the species population - in contrast to succession , which requires directed changes.

causes

Species changes take place, for example, when the living conditions in a biotope change and a species that previously had no prospects can assert itself. An example of such changes are fluctuations in environmental conditions, e.g. B. by alternating warm or cool, wet or dry years, which can lead to changes in the species population; Such changes can be reversible if there is no directional change (e.g. in this case: a climate change). Another example is the man-made drainage of moors . Species change without changing the environmental conditions regularly occurs when a species that can live in a certain habitat, but has not been able to colonize it so far (due to distribution barriers), appears here again. This can be due to natural factors (example: a species of lizard reaches an island by drifting individuals on a driftwood “raft”). Some species are extremely poor colonizers due to the lack of long-distance distribution mechanisms and can take long periods of time to actually reach suitable habitats. Today, however, it is more common that (neobiotic) species introduced by humans turn out to be "stronger" and exterminate or displace competitors in their new habitat.

An important individual factor is the change in the available food supply (this change in turn may be triggered in a multifactorial manner).

Species changes can also be caused by the fact that the habitat is ecologically more fragmented, which can mean the loss or gain of particularly suitable biotope areas for a certain species compared to a competing one.

Time requirement

An important parameter when changing species is the time it takes on average to replace one species with another ( species turnover time ). However, the more data is evaluated, the shorter the period appears. The period for a species change also seems to be shorter the more complex the organisms examined are.

Possibility of confusion

The species change differs from long-term evolution with a change from one chronospecies to the next, which is an adaptation to new conditions through a change in shape in existing species ( species change ).

Web links

Change of species (= crop rotation): catch crops in agriculture and horticulture. On: aid.de
Diversity of moth communities along an altitude gradient in southern Ecuador (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea, Arctiidae). Dissertation on species change in moth communities, University of Bayreuth 2003
Production biology and sociology of the macro- and micro-phytobenthos of the Darß-Zingster Boddenkette. By Helmut Pankow and Norbert Wasmund; from: Rostock marine biology contributions. No. 2, 1994 (PDF file; 49 kB)

Individual evidence

↑ Mathew A. Leibold et al .: Species turnover and the regulation of trophic structure. In: Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics. Volume 28, 1997, pp. 467-494, doi: 10.1146 / annurev.ecolsys.28.1.467
↑ Hendrik Andrén Effects of habitat fragmentation on birds and mammals in landscapes with different proportions of suitable habitat: a review. In: Oikos. Volume 71, No. 3, 1994, pp. 355–366: Summary , full text (PDF)
^ Explaining species turnover. Freshwater Research News, March 4, 2011, quoted from:
Jenni J. Korhonen, Janne Soininen and Helmut Hillebrand: A quantitative analysis of temporal turnover in aquatic species assemblages across ecosystems. In: Ecology. Volume 91, No. 2, 2010, pp. 508-517, doi: 10.1890 / 09-0392.1
↑ Thomas W. Schoener: Rate of species turnover decreases from lower to higher organisms: a review of the data. In: Oikos. Volume 41, No. 3, 1983, pp. 372-377: Abstract

[1] Mathew A. Leibold et al .: Species turnover and the regulation of trophic structure. In: Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics. Volume 28, 1997, pp. 467-494, doi: 10.1146 / annurev.ecolsys.28.1.467

[2] Hendrik Andrén Effects of habitat fragmentation on birds and mammals in landscapes with different proportions of suitable habitat: a review. In: Oikos. Volume 71, No. 3, 1994, pp. 355–366: Summary , full text (PDF)

[3] Explaining species turnover. Freshwater Research News, March 4, 2011, quoted from:
Jenni J. Korhonen, Janne Soininen and Helmut Hillebrand: A quantitative analysis of temporal turnover in aquatic species assemblages across ecosystems. In: Ecology. Volume 91, No. 2, 2010, pp. 508-517, doi: 10.1890 / 09-0392.1

[4] Thomas W. Schoener: Rate of species turnover decreases from lower to higher organisms: a review of the data. In: Oikos. Volume 41, No. 3, 1983, pp. 372-377: Abstract