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Effects
of connectivity and
disturbance on metacommunities
Starting with his sabbatical at University of California-Davis in
2006-7, Nick Haddad has collaborated with Marcel Holyoak
and Tawny Mata
to determine the effects of disturbance and connectivity on community
diversity and composition. Working with experimental microcosms
of protists, they have shown how the effects of disturbance on
diversity can be predicted by understanding the traits of species
within the community. In particular, species traits like their
population growth rates have been most important in predicting their
ability to persist through disturbance. Contrary to conventional
wisdom, competitive interactions were less important (though not
unimportant) predictors of species persistence in disturbed communities.
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