New Zealand Journal of Botany abstracts

---

Some tests for niche limitation by examination of species diversity in the Dunedin area, New Zealand

J. BASTOW WILSON
MARTIN T.SYKES

Botany Department, University of Otago
P.O. Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand

Abstract Fifteen plant communities were sampled, each by five randomly-placed quadrats. Bryophyte and vascular plant species were recorded. There were considerable differences between communities in species diversity. These agree with some theories, and conflict with others. Types of community that are young, in evolu- tionary time, did not seem deficient in species. Human disturbance, and the consequent inva- sion of exotic species, had very little effect on species diversity, but this seemed to be because of a balance between opposing trends, difficult to relate to niche limitation. Correlation gave no evidence that exotic species displaced natives from a fixed number of niches. Within-community variance in species richness is significantly greater than that predicted from a null model, providing no evidence for the niche limitation theory.

Keywords community structure; disturbance; exotic species; native species; New Zealand; niche limitation; species diversity

Received 3 December 1986; accepted 22 October 1987
New Zealand Journal of Botany, 1988, Vol. 26: 237-244
0028-825X/88/2602-0237$2.50/0 © Crown copyright 1988

PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (636K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)

---

This year's abstracts | Journal home page | All abstracts | Publishing home page