生物多样性 ›› 2020, Vol. 28 ›› Issue (11): 1345-1361.  DOI: 10.17520/biods.2020110

• 综述 • 上一篇    下一篇

结构稳定性: 概念、方法和应用

宋础良1,2,3,*()   

  1. 1 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
    2 Department of Biology, McGill University, Montreal, H3A 1B1, Canada
    3 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3B2, Canada
  • 收稿日期:2020-03-23 接受日期:2020-05-27 出版日期:2020-11-20 发布日期:2020-06-18
  • 通讯作者: 宋础良
  • 作者简介:* E-mail: clsong.ecology@gmail.com

Structural stability: Concepts, methods, and applications

Chuliang Song1,2,3,*()   

  1. 1 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
    2 Department of Biology, McGill University, Montreal, H3A 1B1, Canada
    3 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3B2, Canada
  • Received:2020-03-23 Accepted:2020-05-27 Online:2020-11-20 Published:2020-06-18
  • Contact: Chuliang Song

摘要:

群落内物种间相互作用的结构是高度组织化的。群落结构对多物种共存的影响机制是群落生态学的核心科学问题之一。目前生态学界在这一问题上存在多种不同的观点。一个可能的原因是, 由于环境因子的复杂性, 大部分研究忽略了环境因子对群落结构和物种共存的重要影响。在这一背景下, 近期发展起来的结构稳定性理论系统地联系了群落结构、环境因子和物种共存, 并在此基础上建立了一个和经验数据紧密结合的理论框架。本文首先简要回顾了当前关于群落结构研究的争鸣, 然后介绍了结构稳定性的理论框架和计算方法, 最后详细介绍了结构稳定性理论在不同生态群落和不同生态学问题中的应用。在全球气候变化的背景下, 结构稳定性理论提供了一种新的视角来理解群落层面的生物多样性维持机制。

关键词: 群落结构, 物种共存, 结构稳定性, 环境梯度, 环境胁迫

Abstract

Ecological networks—how species interactions are organized within ecological communities—are highly structured, which has motivated generations of ecologists to elucidate how these structures affect species coexistence. Unfortunately, we still do not have a clear and consistent answer about the link between network structure and species coexistence. A possible explanation is that most of the studies do not take into account that the environment affects both network structure and species coexistence due to the multidimensional and changing nature of environmental factors. In this context, the structural stability approach provides a theoretical framework grounded on biological realism to quantitatively link network structure, species coexistence, and environmental factors. I begin by an overview of the heated debates in the study of ecological networks. Then I introduce the theoretical framework and computational tools of the structural stability approach in a nutshell. Then I show the empirical applications in different ecological questions across a broad range of ecological systems. Overall, the structural stability approach provides a new perspective to understand the maintenance of biodiversity in ecological communities.

Key words: community structure, species coexistence, structural stability, environmental gradient, environmental stress