Abstract
Abundance-occupancy relationships were determined for desert plants in the northwestern Red Sea region, at both the whole landscape, and individual habitat levels. Some 58 stands (having atotal of 66 species) were studied, using ten quadrats (10× 10m2) per stand. The relation was positive and highly significant at both scales, but stronger at habitat level than across the regional landscape. Niche-breadth was estimated as the number of habitats occupied regionally by a species, and was significantly related to both abundance and occupancy. Niche breadth explained just 10.1% of variation in abundance but some 56.2% of variation in occupancy. Using empirical data, we tested whether those abundance-occupancy relationships diverged significantly from a theoretical null model. Relationships diverged significantly from the null model at both regional landscape and habitat levels. Applications of abundance-occupancy relationships for plant conservation showed that 36% of the species in the study region is at risk of extinction.
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Lovett-Doust, J., Hegazy, A.K., Hammouda, O. et al. Abundance-occupancy relationships and implications for conservation of desert plants in the northwestern Red Sea region. COMMUNITY ECOLOGY 10, 91–98 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1556/ComEc.10.2009.1.11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1556/ComEc.10.2009.1.11