Introduction
Ecological theories, hypotheses and paradigms
Theory and key reference(s) | Study system | References |
---|---|---|
Acoustic adaptation hypothesis (Morton 1975) | Birds, frogs, insects | |
Ecological trap theory (Dwernychuk and Boag 1972) | Aquatic insects, urban wetlands | |
Host-pathogen dynamics in a metapopulation (Thrall and Burdon 1997) | Amphibians and chytridiomycosis | |
Food webs/trophic dynamics (Hairston et al. 1960) | Phoenix, Arizona; Sunshine Coast, Australia | |
General theory of ecological communities (Vellend 2010) | Microbes in wastewater | Nemergut et al. (2013) |
Gradient paradigm (Whittaker 1967) | Fungi, plants, birds, mammals, fish, insects | |
Intermediate disturbance hypothesis (Connell 1978) | Birds, butterflies, plants, millipedes | |
Interspecific (resource) competition (Tansley 1917) | Birds, mosquitoes | |
Landscape theory (Naveh and Lieberman 1984) | Urban landscapes, grasslands, insects | |
Mesopredator release (Soulé et al. 1988) | Coastal California, urban and peri-urban parks in Virginia | |
Metapopulation theory (Levins 1969) | Reptiles, amphibians | |
Amphibians, reptiles, aquatic invertebrates | ||
Neutral theory of biodiversity and biogeography (Hubbell 2001) | Birds | Sol et al. (2014) |
Molluscs, plants, bats, reptiles, arthropods, amphibians | ||
Optimal foraging theory (Charnov 1976) | Squirrels, birds, lizards | |
Birds and nest predators, tadpoles and fish |
Case study: pond-breeding frogs in Melbourne, Australia
Methods
Study area
Survey sites
Frog surveys
Data analysis
Results
Variable | Mean | SD | 2.5% | 97.5% |
---|---|---|---|---|
Intercept | − 0.01387 | 0.4995 | − 1.009 | 0.9623 |
Pond size | 1.193 | 0.4626 | 0.3622 | 2.178 |
Pond connectedness | 0.5593 | 0.2121 | 0.2204 | 1.045 |
Total vegetation | 0.8598 | 0.7022 | − 0.4847 | 2.278 |
Metapopulation effect | 0.9511 | 0.06455 | 0.7674 | 0.9989 |
Niche effect | 0.693 | 0.1416 | 0.3786 | 0.916 |
Variable | Mean | SD | 2.5% | 97.5% |
---|---|---|---|---|
Intercept | − 1.508 | 0.3479 | − 2.239 | − 0.8763 |
Pond size | 0.431 | 0.3237 | − 0.1797 | 1.089 |
Pond connectedness | 0.4324 | 0.1376 | 0.174 | 0.7138 |
Total vegetation | 1.185 | 0.5666 | 0.109 | 2.334 |
Vertical wall | − 0.8875 | 0.8321 | − 2.56 | 0.7193 |
Metapopulation effect | 0.7566 | 0.1999 | 0.233 | 0.9789 |
Niche effect | 0.4817 | 0.1536 | 0.1675 | 0.7589 |
Variable | Mean | SD | 2.5% | 97.5% |
---|---|---|---|---|
Intercept | − 2.751 | 0.7998 | − 4.485 | − 1.356 |
Pond size | 1.768 | 0.5826 | 0.7335 | 3.015 |
Pond connectedness | 0.7229 | 0.2458 | 0.2758 | 1.243 |
Total vegetation | 2.072 | 0.8112 | 0.5916 | 3.773 |
Metapopulation effect | 0.9765 | 0.1612 | 0.8641 | 0.9997 |
Niche effect | 0.3865 | 0.04108 | 0.1101 | 0.7175 |
Variable | Mean | SD | 2.5% | 97.5% |
---|---|---|---|---|
Intercept | 0.09157 | 0.2216 | − 0.3436 | 0.5276 |
Pond size | 0.7428 | 0.2458 | 0.2816 | 1.244 |
Pond connectedness | 0.2845 | 0.09371 | 0.1078 | 0.475 |
Total vegetation | 0.4877 | 0.4266 | − 0.3441 | 1.334 |
Vertical wall | 1.065 | 0.5974 | − 0.07399 | 2.27 |
Metapopulation effect | 0.8589 | 0.09394 | 0.6174 | 0.9725 |
Niche effect | 0.4315 | 0.234 | − 0.09225 | 0.8052 |