![]() 8, 9) has indicated the need to include community assembly processes and also spatial grain into trophic network models. For instance, study of predator-prey richness relationships (e.g. In turn, trophic network approaches to community assembly 5 have highlighted the importance of trophic position in the formation of ecological interactions 6 and community stability 7. Implicitly, they refer to species of the same trophic level. We speculate that the major trigger for these differences is a reduced dispersal ability in plants at basal trophic ranks when compared to higher trophic levels.Ĭurrent approaches to ecological community assembly based on niche 1, 2 and neutral 3 theories do not explicitly consider the trophic position of a species (but see 4). Our results confirm models that predict a decrease in spatial species turnover (β-diversity) with increasing trophic level. Variability in environmental niche width among species increased at higher trophic levels. Environmental niches and niche overlap were highest in predators. We found decreased proportions of predators and habitat generalists on larger islands. Here we test these predictions using quantitative surveys of plants, spiders, and herbivores as well as of omnivorous and predatory ground beetles on undisturbed Polish lake islands. ![]() Contrasting trophic theories of island biogeography try to link spatial patterns in species distribution and richness with dietary preferences, arguing that the spatial turnover of species among habitat patches changes with trophic rank causing a systematic change in the proportion of plants, herbivores, and predators across habitats of different size.
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