Competitive effects on the structure of subalpine meadow communities

摘要

The effects of competition in a subalpine meadow environment were investigated by comparing within-habitat distributions and species overlap in four communities. Based on experimental studies of these communities, it was hypothesized that structural patterns should be affected by productivity changes. It was determined that such changes are nonlinear and that the most stressed and the most competitive communities share many similar properties. Among closed, relatively productive communities, mean niche width, niche width of competitively inferior species, total overlap, and overlap among weak competitors all declined with increased competitive intensity. In contrast, niche width of dominant species changed little and overlap among space-holding species increased. The use of comparative pattern measures can complement and enhance the analysis of community structure and dynamics based on experimental methods.