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Science 27 July 2001:
Vol. 293. no. 5530, pp. 650 - 655
DOI: 10.1126/science.1062586
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Review
Long-Term Studies of Vegetation Dynamics
Mark Rees,1*
Rick Condit,2
Mick Crawley,1
Steve Pacala,3
Dave Tilman4
By integrating a wide range of experimental,
comparative, and theoretical approaches, ecologists are starting to
gain a detailed understanding of the long-term dynamics of vegetation.
We explore how patterns of variation in demographic traits among
species have provided insight into the processes that structure plant communities. We find a common set of mechanisms, derived from ecological and evolutionary principles, that underlie the main forces
shaping systems as diverse as annual plant communities and tropical
forests. Trait variation between species maintains diversity and has
important implications for ecosystem processes. Hence, greater
understanding of how Earth's vegetation functions will likely require
integration of ecosystem science with ideas from plant evolutionary,
population, and community ecology.
1 Imperial College and NERC Centre for
Population Biology, Silwood Park, Ascot, Berks SL5 7PY, UK.
2 Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Center
for Tropical Forest Science, Unit 0948, APO, AA 34002, USA.
3 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology,
Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
4 Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior,
University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA.
*
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
mrees{at}ic.ac.uk
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