Resistance to disturbance is a diverse phenomenon and does not increase with abundance:The case of oribatid mites
2000
Prinzing, Andreas | Kretzler, Sandra | Beck, Ludwig
The resistance of a population to a disturbance can be described by different proxies, such as abundance, long-term abundance trend, and relative abundance in the more disturbed part of the habitat. Each proxy reflects a different aspect of resistance. Here we investigated oribatid mite species and asked: (i) Are the species generally less resistant with respect to one of these aspects than another? (ii) Is there a correlation between different aspects of resistance across species? (iii) Are abundant species more resistant than rare species? We disturbed a forest soil by a single application of diflubenzuron pesticide onto the litter layer and followed 14 taxa from 10 months before to 18 months after application. In the analysis we adopted the concepts of effect size and of phylogenetically independent contrasts. We found large interspecific differences in the degree of resistance. Most species were less resistant with respect to their relative abundance in the more disturbed part of the habitat (the litter layer) than with respect to their abundance or abundance trend. We found no correlation between any two aspects of resistance, or between any aspect of resistance and abundance. We explain interspecific differences in resistance by interspecific differences in life strategies, and by a relaxation of interspecific competition due to the disturbance.
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