Annotated Bibliography
Adam W. Whelchel
Structure And Evolution of Communities
Assembly Rules for Ecological Communities

 

Case, T.J. 1983. Niche overlap and the assembly of island lizard communities. Oikos, 41, 427-433. This paper reexamined Diamond’s assembly rules in an island lizard community. The thrust of this paper is that it showed a pattern of species association that deviated from random. Case suggests that this is due to interspecific competition which is responsible for structuring the species composition. It is important to keep in mind that this paper harks from an era when competition was regarded as the prominent structuring force. Read with a grain of salt. Connor, E.F. and Simberloff, D. 1979. The assembly of species communities: chance or competition? Ecology, 60, 1132-40. This paper was written in response to Diamond’s (1975) paper mentioned above. The authors argue effectively that the observed patterns by Diamond (1975) were not tested against appropriate null hypothesis. The authors go on to demonstrate that the observed patterns could be expected if the individual species were randomly distributed across the extent of the study area. This paper represents a fundamental challenge to means of interpreting patterns and the speculation of assembly rules that define observed patterns in communities. The worth of this paper lies in the forced reexamination of how we approach community assembly theory. I would recommend this paper accompanied by Diamond’s (1975) in order to gain an understanding of the roots of this topic. Diamond, J.M. 1975. Assembly of Species Communities, in Ecology and Evolution of Communities (eds. M.L. Cody and J.M. Diamond), Belknap, Harvard, pp. 342-444. This paper represents the origin of the term ‘Assembly Rules’. This exhaustive volume examines land bird distribution across the Bismarck archipelago near New Guinea. By examining the species composition on different islands the author suggested that there are constraints on species combinations which are projected in a list of assembly rules. The author suggests that the constraints on species composition are due to resource competition as it relates to niche breadth and the minimization of unutilized resources. Resource consumption curves will match resource production curves. I would suggest tackling this tome however, given the shear volume of this manuscript perhaps a review of Putnam’s chapter in Community Ecology will suffice. Drake, J.A. 1990. The mechanics of community assembly and succession. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 147, 213-233. While difficult to follow at times, this paper by Drake thoroughly explores the theoretical mechanisms of community pattern development. The two approaches for understanding distribution and abundance used in ecology; comparison based upon correlation and the production of the extant community; are developed an reinterpreted. Theoretically this paper focuses on the dynamics and process of developing organization in communities. If you are in need of further discussion on the mechanisms of community assemblage from a theoretical approach enjoy. Drake, J.A. 1991. Community-assembly mechanics and the structure of an experimental ensemble. American Naturalist 137: 1-26. Drake provides an detailed overview of the mechanics the structure community assemblage. The author discusses such issues as ecological community, connectivity, and the maintenance versus causality of community patterns. The author raises numerous questions that cut right to the heart of our understanding of community ecological. Of particular interest is the notion of historical influences on system organization. A well written paper certainly worth the read in order to further grasp the intellectual draw of community assembly theory. Keddy, P.A. 1992. Assembly and response rules: two goals for predictive community ecology. Journal of Vegetative Science 3: 157-164. Keddy suggests in this paper that the examination of assembly rules will help to establish a "unifying framework for community ecology". This paper retraces the intellectual endeavor of interpreting pattern by addressing context, assembly rules, and response rules. The trust of the paper is Keddy’s approach to understanding the process responsible for a given species assemblage by examining the how species arrive at a site. The need for defining useful species and functional group trait matrix forces us to consider key life history traits. By examining individual species traits and/or functional traits we will be better able to make more informed decision regarding why species assemblages occur in the ways they do. I would recommend reading this paper for the content and the reference section. Moyle, P.B. and T. Light. 1996. Biological invasions of fresh water: empirical rules and assembly theory. Biological Conservation, 78, 149-161. Moyle and Light provide a brief but, concise overview of the general concepts involved in community assembly theory. Five generalized assembly rules derived from past research in the field, lab, and with computer simulation are provided. The authors conceptually fuse community assembly theory with invasion biology to develop a theoretical framework to discuss a string of case history examples primarily in California. Through their detailed examination of historic case examples the authors are able to reevaluate the validity of the five generalize assembly rules. The results of their analysis indicate that generalized assembly rules most be tailored for individual systems at a local scale. They do state that this line of intellectual pursuit may provide vital and beneficial insights into community assemblage. I would highly recommend this paper for both conceptual and practical content.
  A brief but provocative concerning community construction that is well worth the read for a different perspective.
  Putnam traces the derivation of species composition and community assembly in a readily digestible manner. This chapter focuses on the historic derivation of the concepts now being applied to community assembly theory. Much of the intellectual challenges that still remain are illuminated by examining the exchange and counter exchanges from the original work of Diamond (1975) to current research. Well worth the read for an overview on the favor and nature of the past, present, and probable future of the community assembly theory debate. Wilson, J.B. 1991. Does vegetation science exist? Journal of Vegetative Science, 2, 289-290. A very short paper that exposes some very pertinent topics in community ecology from the vegetation perspective. The provocative ideas in this paper causes the resurfacing of an age old ecological discussion; do vegetation community exist. Resulted in a series of rebuttals. I would recommend reading this paper and the rebuttals. Wilson, J.B. 1994. Who makes the assembly rules? Journal of Vegetative Science, 5, 275-278. A response by Wilson to a series of rebuttals. Interesting reading but, make sure and read the responses to Wilson (1991). Wilson, J.B. and R. J. Whittaker. 1995. Assembly rules demonstrated in a saltmarsh community. Journal of Ecology, 83, 801-807. Wilson and Whittaker provide an examination of the presence of assembly rules in a salt marsh. The authors state that it is not enough to just assume that assembly rules are operating one must test for the evidence of their existence. To do this the authors apply three statistical methods including; variance in richness, guild proportionality, and intrinsic guild proportionality. While the study design was lacking (quadrate size to small), the authors attempt to rigorously examine community association is to be applauded. Their results do support an association of species suggesting active assembly rules. However, they state that while this study illustrates the "effective limitations of coexistence" it can not definitively determine the process. They suggest that to really understand species interactions information on the physiological and demographic processes should be coupled to this type of approach. This paper in my mind provide a template for further work within natural systems in order to determine the presence of assembly rules. Greater attention to sampling regimes is recommended.