The importance of neutral over niche processes in structuring Ediacaran early animal communities.
The relative influence of niche vs. neutral processes in ecosystem dynamics is an on-going debate, but the extent to which they structured the earliest animal communities is unknown. Some of the oldest known metazoan-dominated paleocommunities occur in Ediacaran age (~ 565 million years old) strata...
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Wiley
2019
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/296178 https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.43223 |
id |
ftunivcam:oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/296178 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftunivcam:oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/296178 2024-01-28T10:07:20+01:00 The importance of neutral over niche processes in structuring Ediacaran early animal communities. Mitchell, Emily G Harris, Simon Kenchington, Charlotte G Vixseboxse, Philip Roberts, Lucy Clark, Catherine Dennis, Alexandra Liu, Alexander G Wilby, Philip R 2019-12 Print-Electronic application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/296178 https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.43223 eng eng Wiley http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ele.13383 Ecol Lett https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/296178 doi:10.17863/CAM.43223 All rights reserved Ecology Ediacaran neutral theory paleoecology paleontology spatial point process analysis Animals Canada Ecosystem Forests Article 2019 ftunivcam https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.43223 2024-01-04T23:20:00Z The relative influence of niche vs. neutral processes in ecosystem dynamics is an on-going debate, but the extent to which they structured the earliest animal communities is unknown. Some of the oldest known metazoan-dominated paleocommunities occur in Ediacaran age (~ 565 million years old) strata in Newfoundland, Canada and Charnwood Forest, UK. These comprise large and diverse populations of sessile organisms that are amenable to spatial point process analyses, enabling inference of the most likely underlying niche or neutral processes governing community structure. We mapped seven Ediacaran paleocommunities using LiDAR, photogrammetry and a laser line probe. We found that neutral processes dominate these paleocommunities, with niche processes exerting limited influence, in contrast with the niche-dominated dynamics of modern marine ecosystems. The dominance of neutral processes suggests that early metazoan diversification may not have been driven by systematic adaptations to the local environment, but instead may have resulted from stochastic demographic differences. This work has been supported by the Natural Environment Research Council [grant numbers NE/P002412/1 to EGM; NE/1005927/1 to CGK and PRW; and Independent Research Fellowship NE/L011409/2 to AGL], a Gibbs Travelling Fellowship from Newnham College, Cambridge and a Henslow Research Fellowship from Cambridge Philosophical Society to EGM. CGK also acknowledges a Research Studentship funded by the Cambridge Philosophical Society. Article in Journal/Newspaper Newfoundland Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository Canada |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivcam |
language |
English |
topic |
Ecology Ediacaran neutral theory paleoecology paleontology spatial point process analysis Animals Canada Ecosystem Forests |
spellingShingle |
Ecology Ediacaran neutral theory paleoecology paleontology spatial point process analysis Animals Canada Ecosystem Forests Mitchell, Emily G Harris, Simon Kenchington, Charlotte G Vixseboxse, Philip Roberts, Lucy Clark, Catherine Dennis, Alexandra Liu, Alexander G Wilby, Philip R The importance of neutral over niche processes in structuring Ediacaran early animal communities. |
topic_facet |
Ecology Ediacaran neutral theory paleoecology paleontology spatial point process analysis Animals Canada Ecosystem Forests |
description |
The relative influence of niche vs. neutral processes in ecosystem dynamics is an on-going debate, but the extent to which they structured the earliest animal communities is unknown. Some of the oldest known metazoan-dominated paleocommunities occur in Ediacaran age (~ 565 million years old) strata in Newfoundland, Canada and Charnwood Forest, UK. These comprise large and diverse populations of sessile organisms that are amenable to spatial point process analyses, enabling inference of the most likely underlying niche or neutral processes governing community structure. We mapped seven Ediacaran paleocommunities using LiDAR, photogrammetry and a laser line probe. We found that neutral processes dominate these paleocommunities, with niche processes exerting limited influence, in contrast with the niche-dominated dynamics of modern marine ecosystems. The dominance of neutral processes suggests that early metazoan diversification may not have been driven by systematic adaptations to the local environment, but instead may have resulted from stochastic demographic differences. This work has been supported by the Natural Environment Research Council [grant numbers NE/P002412/1 to EGM; NE/1005927/1 to CGK and PRW; and Independent Research Fellowship NE/L011409/2 to AGL], a Gibbs Travelling Fellowship from Newnham College, Cambridge and a Henslow Research Fellowship from Cambridge Philosophical Society to EGM. CGK also acknowledges a Research Studentship funded by the Cambridge Philosophical Society. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Mitchell, Emily G Harris, Simon Kenchington, Charlotte G Vixseboxse, Philip Roberts, Lucy Clark, Catherine Dennis, Alexandra Liu, Alexander G Wilby, Philip R |
author_facet |
Mitchell, Emily G Harris, Simon Kenchington, Charlotte G Vixseboxse, Philip Roberts, Lucy Clark, Catherine Dennis, Alexandra Liu, Alexander G Wilby, Philip R |
author_sort |
Mitchell, Emily G |
title |
The importance of neutral over niche processes in structuring Ediacaran early animal communities. |
title_short |
The importance of neutral over niche processes in structuring Ediacaran early animal communities. |
title_full |
The importance of neutral over niche processes in structuring Ediacaran early animal communities. |
title_fullStr |
The importance of neutral over niche processes in structuring Ediacaran early animal communities. |
title_full_unstemmed |
The importance of neutral over niche processes in structuring Ediacaran early animal communities. |
title_sort |
importance of neutral over niche processes in structuring ediacaran early animal communities. |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/296178 https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.43223 |
geographic |
Canada |
geographic_facet |
Canada |
genre |
Newfoundland |
genre_facet |
Newfoundland |
op_relation |
https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/296178 doi:10.17863/CAM.43223 |
op_rights |
All rights reserved |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.43223 |
_version_ |
1789334891779850240 |