Defining the limits to local density: Alternative views of abundance-environment relationships

Abstract

1. In many ecosystems, the local abundance of organisms is spatially heterogeneous. Ecologists often seek to explain this variation by modelling the central tendency of abundance as a function of a single dominant factor (central response, CR). An alternative approach is to model maximum and minimum abundance in relation to the dominant factor (limiting response, LR), thereby acknowledging that multiple factors may constrain abundance and create scatter in the relationship. In many ecosystems, including streams, abundance- environment relationships are traditionally expected to be CR models with a single dominant factor determining local abundance, but this hypothesis lacks rigorous test. Th..