Interactions among Foundation Species and Their Consequences for Community Organization, Biodiversity, and Conservation

摘要

Foundation species create complex habitats in which associated organisms find refuge from biological and physical stress; these foundation species are thus fundamental to the structure and resilience of terrestrial and marine ecosystems. In the present article, we develop an approach tounderstanding foundation species’ effects in communities that are maintained not by a single foundation species, as has been the focus of researchto date, but by multiple, co-occurring foundation species. Using examples from diverse ecosystems, we illustrate the prevalence of multiplefoundation-species assemblages and hypothesize that the nature of foundation-species interactions has important consequences for communitystructure. We predict where positive and negative interactions among foundation species will occur and suggest that they organize communitieshierarchically in nested or adjacent assemblages that underlie landscape-scale patterns in species distribution. Elucidating the predictable natureof foundation-species interactions may be key to understanding and managing the biodiversity and functioning of many ecosystems.