Vegetation census data from montane meadow plots are used to test a predicted connection between the species-area relationship, S=cAz, and the dependence of interpatch species turnover on patch area A, interpatch distance D, and the species-area exponent z. At small spatial scales, from D ≈ 1 - 10 m, where species-area parameters can be independently estimated, the prediction is confirmed; at larger scales, from D≈ 1-104 m, the scale-dependence of z is deduced. A predicted dependence of species richness on the shape of censused patches is also confirmed. Our results indicate that readily obtainable species-turnover data between distant small patches can be used to estimate species-area exponents at landscape scales where census data for nested areas are generally not available, thereby improving our ability to estimate landscape-scale species richness and rarity.
Oikos is a journal issued by the Nordic Ecological Society and is one of the leading peer-reviewed journals in ecology. Oikos publishes original and innovative research on all aspects of ecology. Emphasis is on theoretical and empirical work aimed at generalization and synthesis across taxa, systems and ecological disciplines. Papers should be well founded in ecological theory and contribute to new developments in ecology by reporting novel theory or critical experimental results. Confirming or extending the established literature is given less priority. Synthesis of new and emerging fields in ecology and beyond is encouraged. Papers of review character should should strive for conceptual unification and being a point of departure for future work rather that restrospective summaries of established fields or topics.
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