Concepts

Spatial gradients in elevation that capture variation in temperature, soil age and type, disturbance regimes, and land-use histories providing important insights into how organisms, communities, and e...

A measure of community diversity that accounts for both species richness and relative abundance, calculated using the Shannon-Weiner index

The framework that climate affects species abundances and distributions both directly through physiological effects and indirectly through effects on multi-trophic species interactions

Fungal symbionts that form specialized structures (arbuscules, vesicles) within plant root cells and are important for nutrient exchange

A group of fungal endophytes characterized by dark-pigmented, septate hyphae that commonly colonize plant roots and can increase under environmental stress

Ecosystem responses to climate change that exert positive or negative feedbacks on climate, mediated by slow-moving factors such as shifts in vegetation community composition

Quantitative synthesis of results from multiple independent studies to identify general patterns

Theory that predicts patterns of distribution, abundance, and energetics using instantaneous values of community state variables including total area, total abundance, total species richness, and tota...

Experimental removal of the most abundant plant species to test effects of species loss on community structure and function

The process by which non-native species become established and spread in new environments

The ratio of dry root weight to total dry plant weight, used as an indicator of soil nutrient availability with higher values indicating nutrient-poor conditions

A measure of the evolutionary history represented in an ecological community, calculated as the sum of branch lengths connecting species in a phylogenetic tree

The ability of a system to change but maintain its basic attributes; a resilient forest stand subjected to disturbance will return to conditions similar to those present prior to the disturbance but m...

Statistical inference procedure that selects flattest probability distributions compatible with constraints imposed by prior knowledge

Distribution of metabolic rates over individuals in a community, obtained by summing over abundance

Classification of species with similar characteristics into plant functional groups or plant functional types to reduce complexity in ecological communities

Plot showing cumulative number of species discovered as a function of sampling effort, used to assess sampling completeness

Theory asserting that plant-pollinator interactions are neutral, random processes based on species abundances without considering traits or competitive dynamics

Activity of enzymes secreted by soil microorganisms that catalyze decomposition of organic matter and provide assimilable carbon and nitrogen compounds

Species with greater primary production exert the main controls for the functioning of ecosystems due to greater aboveground abundance of biomass or leaf area that promotes resource uptake

Total amount of living microbial tissue in soil measured as carbon and nitrogen content

Percentage of leaf area affected by pathogen symptoms including powdery mildew, rust, and other fungal diseases

A statistical distribution commonly observed in species abundance patterns, predicted by METE for undisturbed communities

Underground ecosystem components crucial for sustaining ecosystem function but often remain unseen

Competition between fungal groups for limited plant photosynthate allocation

Decrease in compositional similarity between communities with increasing geographic distance or environmental separation

The principle asserting an inverse relationship between local population density and average metabolic rate of individuals in a species

A dating technique that uses the measured diameters of lichen thalli to estimate the age of rock surfaces

The study of spatial distribution patterns of microorganisms and the factors controlling these patterns

Statistical method comparing species composition near target individuals to background composition to identify spatial associations

Reduction in photosynthetic efficiency due to excess light exposure

Standardized method for observing and counting birds at fixed locations for specified time periods

Statistical measure of effect size calculated as the ratio of treatment to control group means

Distinct layers in soil profile with different physical and chemical properties

The rate at which temperature decreases with elevation, typically expressed as degrees Celsius per kilometer

Spatial and temporal variation in water temperatures that can support diverse aquatic species and provide thermal refugia

Extrapolation of species richness estimates from small plots to larger spatial scales using theoretical scaling relationships