Dispersal is a key process in community assembly but is often considered separately from
downstream assembly processes (eg, competition, herbivory). However, dispersal varies by …

Aims The neutral theory of biodiversity has been criticized for being fragile with even slight
deviations from its basic assumption of equal fitness among species. In response to this …

Selection and drift are universally accepted as the cornerstones of evolutionary changes.
Recent theories extend this view to ecological changes, arguing that any change in species …

Theory on plant succession predicts a temporal increase in the complexity of spatial
community structure and of competitive interactions: initially random occurrences of early …

An aim of community ecology is to understand the patterns of competing species assembly
along environmental gradients. All species interact with their environments. However …

What drives the composition of invaded communities and the local abundance of introduced
species are key questions in ecology. Community‑assembly theory provides a useful …

The degree of dispersion of trait values among species in a community has frequently been
used to infer processes of community assembly. However, multiple assembly processes can …

We tested the prediction from spatial competition models that intraspecific aggregation may
promote coexistence and thus maintain biodiversity with experimental communities of four …

Understanding what constrains the persistence of species in communities is at the heart of
community assembly theory and its application to conserving and enhancing biodiversity …

Communities are located within a larger species pool of potential colonists. The study of
community assembly considers the mechanisms by which local communities are formed …