Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

On the species-pool hypothesis and on the quasi-neutral concept of plant community diversity

  • Published:
Folia Geobotanica Aims and scope Submit manuscript

5. Conclusions

5.1. According to the results from studying a broad variety of Estonian herbaceous communities (4.11) the question in 1.14 should be answered as:selection from a regional species pool into an actual species pool and selection from actual species pool into a microsite are mostly random and neutral processes and they are not directed significantly by interspecific competition.

5.2. Yet, the formation of a diversity pattern should be called aquasi-neutral process,mainly because the exclusion of species from communities due to asymmetric light competition is common during succession (when taller species outcompete shorter ones).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Carley M.J. &Schiluter D. (1997): The relationship between local and regional diversity.Ecology 78: 70–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cornell H. &Lawton J. (1992): Species interactions, local and regional processes, and limits to the richness of ecological communities: a theoretical perspective.J. Anim. Ecol. 61: 1–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeAngelis D.L. &Waterhouse J.C. (1987): Equilibrium and nonequilibrium concepts in ecological models.Ecol. Monogr. 57: 1–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eriksson O. (1993): The species-pool hypothesis and plant community diversity.Oikos 68: 371–374.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grime J.P. (1979):Plant strategies and vegetation processes. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huston M. (1979): A general hypothesis of species diversity.Amer. Naturalist 113: 81–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oksanen J. (1996): Is the humped relationship between species richness and biomass an artefact due to plot size?J. Ecol. 84: 293–295.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pärtel M., Zobel M., Zobel K. &van der Maarel E. (1996): The species pool and its relation to species richness: evidence from Estonian plant communities.Oikos 75: 111–117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weiner J. (1990): Asymmetric competition in plant populations.Trends Ecol. Evol. 5: 360–364.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zobel K. &Liira J. (1997): A scale-independent approach to the richness vs biomass relationship in ground-layer plant communities.Oikos 80: 325–332.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zobel M. (1997): The relative role of species pools in determining plant species richness: an alternative explanation of species coexistence?Trends Ecol. Evol. 12: 266–269.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany and Ecology, Tartu University, 40 Lai St., EE-51005, Tartu, Estonia

    Kristjan Zobel

Authors
  1. Kristjan Zobel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kristjan Zobel.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Zobel, K. On the species-pool hypothesis and on the quasi-neutral concept of plant community diversity. Folia Geobot 36, 3–8 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02803133

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02803133

Keywords

Search

Navigation