Both local stability and dispersal contribute to metacommunity
sensitivity to asynchronous habitat availability (depending on landscape
structure and foodweb complexity)
- Pablo Moisset de Espanes
, - Rodrigo Ramos-Jiliberto
![](https://d197for5662m48.cloudfront.net/assets/icons/omniauth/orcid-ca37582cd91a671ed5cec57770e0e96c01b4b79b8b5b75d8598fc1ddac18c974.svg)
Abstract
The stability of isolated communities is determined by foodweb
complexity. However, it is unclear how local stability interacts with
dispersal in multitrophic metacommunities to shape biodiversity
patterns. Furthermore, metacommunity dynamics in landscapes with
non-trivial and dynamic structures are less understood. We aim to
evaluate the influence of local stabilizing factors versus dispersal in
determining the sensitivity of metacommunity biodiversity to increasing
site availability asynchrony. Additionally, we assess the role of
foodweb and landscape complexities as modulating factors. To achieve
these goals, we developed a model based on random matrices for local
communities linked by stochastic dispersal over explicit, dynamic
landscapes. Both local and regional stabilizing factors determined the
sensitivity of metacommunities to landscape asynchrony. Local factors
were more influential in landscapes with fewer sites and lower
modularity, and in more complex foodwebs. We delve into the mechanisms
underlying our results and discuss potential extensions of our study.