Abstract The distribution of biotic and abiotic factors creates ecological niches. Despite the link between both the biotic and abiotic components of a species niche and its geographic distribution, most approaches to species-distribution modeling correlate the occurrence of a single species with broad-scale environmental variables, but do not include biotic interactions. We studied the relative effects of biotic and abiotic factors on community composition and dynamics in a man-made ecosystem (i.e., a grain-storage system). We studied the population dynamics of 10 insect species at two climatically distinct study sites: a site with a Mediterranean climate and a site with a semi-arid climate. All species were found to aggregate at both sites and similar community dynamics were observed at the two sites. However, there were differences in the relative importance of biotic and abiotic factors in the formation of communities in the two habitats. This difference yielded different population dynamics and spatial distributions. The Mediterranean site was characterized by species niche overlap and communities at that site were less dense. In contrast, in the semi-arid habitat, species tended to have distinct spatial distribution and there was a high level of community density. These results can be viewed as examples of within- and between-patch coexistence. We discuss the possibility that there may be gradual shifts in the relative importance of within- and between-patch coexistence. Small continuous changes, such as global climate change, could induce such shifts, leading to similar temporal and spatial patterns in the current Mediterranean climate.

中文翻译：

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相似的群落动态如何产生不同的种群动态和物种空间分布？

摘要 生物和非生物因素的分布创造了生态位。尽管物种生态位的生物和非生物成分与其地理分布之间存在联系，但大多数物种分布建模方法将单个物种的出现与广泛的环境变量相关联，但不包括生物相互作用。我们研究了生物和非生物因素对人造生态系统（即粮食储存系统）中群落组成和动态的相对影响。我们在两个气候不同的研究地点研究了 10 种昆虫物种的种群动态：地中海气候地点和半干旱气候地点。发现所有物种在两个地点聚集，并且在两个地点观察到相似的群落动态。然而，生物和非生物因素在两个生境中形成群落的相对重要性存在差异。这种差异导致了不同的种群动态和空间分布。地中海地区的特点是物种生态位重叠，该地区的群落密度较低。相比之下，在半干旱生境中，物种往往具有明显的空间分布，并且群落密度较高。这些结果可以看作是补丁内和补丁间共存的例子。我们讨论了补丁内和补丁间共存的相对重要性可能会逐渐变化的可能性。小的持续变化，例如全球气候变化，可能会引起这种变化，导致当前地中海气候中出现类似的时空模式。