SPATIAL HETEROGENEITY, NOT VISITATION BIAS, DOMINATES VARIATION IN HERBIVORY

Spatial Heterogeneity, Not Visitation Bias, Dominates Variation in Herbivory: Comment

Making scientific measurements can alter the subject of the measurement (Heisenberg 1927), limiting one’s ability to understand how systems operate when they are not being studied. The idea that such effects occur during ecological research is not new (e.g., Singer and Wedlake 1981, Major 1990, Duncan et al. 2002), but our recent studies have renewed awareness (Cahill et al. 2001, 2002, Hik et ...

Spatial Heterogeneity, Not Visitation Bias, Dominates Variation in Herbivory: Comment & Reply

Spatial heterogeneity across five rangelands managed with pyric-herbivory

article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving. 2 24 Summary 25 1. Many rangelands evolved under an interactive disturbance regime in which grazers 26 respond to the spatial pattern of fire and create a patchy, heterogeneous landscape. 27 Spatially heterogeneous fire and grazing create heterogeneity in vegetation structure at 28 ...

Host heterogeneity dominates West Nile virus transmission.

Heterogeneity in host populations and communities can have large effects on the transmission and control of a pathogen. In extreme cases, a few individuals give rise to the majority of secondary infections, which have been termed super spreading events. Here, we show that transmission of West Nile virus (WNV) is dominated by extreme heterogeneity in the host community, resulting in highly infla...

Primary succession on a seasonal tropical rocky shore: the relative roles of spatial heterogeneity and herbivory

Hong Kong is within the tropics and has a seasonal climate. In winter, shores support patches of ephemeral macroalgae and areas of seemingly bare rock close to crevices where molluscan herbivores are abundant. Using a factorial design of herbivore exclusions in areas far and close to crevices, the development of algal assemblages was monitored in mid-shore, cleared areas, in winter. To estimate...