Fish community reassembly after a coral mass mortality: higher trophic groups are subject to increased rates of extinction

• Published in: Ecology letters Vol. 18; no. 5; pp. 451 - 461
• Main Authors: Alonso, David, Pinyol-Gallemí, Aleix, Alcoverro, Teresa, Arthur, Rohan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.05.2015
• Subjects: Animals; Anthozoa; Archipelagoes; Biodiversity; Biogeography; community structure; Coral reef fish communities; Coral Reefs; corals; dispersal community assembly; Endangered & extinct species; Extinction; Extinction, Biological; fish communities; Fishes - classification; MacArthur and Wilson island biogeography; model validation; Models, Biological; Mortality; niche community assembly; Population Dynamics; post-disturbance community reassembly; Predators; Species extinction; stochastic extinction-colonisation models; Stochastic models; stochastic processes; trophic island biogeography; MacArthur and Wilson island biogeography; dispersal community assembly; stochastic extinction-colonisation models; post-disturbance community reassembly; trophic island biogeography; Coral reef fish communities; niche community assembly

Since Gleason and Clements, our understanding of community dynamics has been influenced by theories emphasising either dispersal or niche assembly as central to community structuring. Determining the relative importance of these processes in structuring real‐world communities remains a challenge. We...