One of the most exciting aspects of Ecology is to know how populations fluctuate in a site during a series of time.
We can analyze a collectivity of plankton, aquatic plants, fish, a pasture, a forest, a lake, or river...
Variations are not erratic in time. Each assemble... each system... has a characteristic regime of fluctuation in time, which depends on exogenous and endogenous factors.
The question is:
Is there a function that explains this trend?
And... what is the cause/s?
Thanks for your help.
JJ
I think that there is not a function that describe the complexity and the trends the ecosystem with fluctuanting regimen characteristics. Can existe several function that permmit describe the fisical proceses, and allows us to get a little closer to reality, but the incertidumbre in the currently contexte each time is largest.
Thank you, Tatiana. I fully understand your comment. It is very difficult to explain the variation of natural systems through a function that represents the trends in the variability of ecosystems or very diverse communities ...
However, we know that there is some adjustment between the variability of the physical environment (which we will call: regime of variability) and the response of organisms (populations, communities) to that variability (adaptive adjustment).
Thus, each subsystem fluctuates within a range of variation.
Although there is no single response between biotic and abiotic variables, the adjustment between the two is not erratic. So ... we need to know which is the regime of variation of both subsystems, to be able to handle the natural systems, to know to where we can modify them without producing irreversible damage.
For this, we need to know: Why do ecosystems vary? (Communities, populations, organisms ...) There is the essence of our problem.
Thank you, Tatiana!
Estimado Neiff me corrijo por el tema del pulso de inundación, realmente la seca juega un papel fundamental y equivocadamente fue utilizado. De hecho e visto el papel que juegan los lagos de las várzeas durante secas extremas quedando por encima del nivel del amazonas, garantizando una enorme cantidad de peces al llevar la próxima inundacíon. Respecto a datos del efecto del pulso su efecto es notable en las clases de tamaño de Arapaima que es reclutado a la pesqueria, tengo datos de ello. Mauricio Valderrama notó algo similar creo en bocachico en el Magdalena y la actual pesqueria de Procilodus y seguramente Salminus en el Uruguay esté sustentada por las últimas crecientes extremas. Yo nunca había visto juveniles de Salminus y Brycon migrando juntos en pequeños arroyos frente a Gualeguachú.
Estimado Neiff, actualmente creamos junto a mi esposa Christine Lucas un Polo de Ecología Fluvial en Paysandú, dentre del Dpto. de Aguas con sede en Salto. Estamos iniciando trabajos en el Río Queguay que por sus características podría funcionar como un trecho alternativo para la desova y/o cría de Salminus. Hemos instalado estaciones fijas con sensores de temp y oxigeno, midiendo regularmente otros parámetros. También estamos iniciando trabajo en monte ribereño y peces (marcación/recaptura, colecta de huevos y larvas y telemetria). Hago estos comentarios solo para tu información...también estamos intentando integrar el trabajo de organización y manejo pesquero con los hermanos argentinos (esto no tiene nada que ver con futbol, ok!)
Dear Neiff, currenctly I´m studying the effects of human activities in the logitudinal and spatial dynamics of aquatic plants community in a stream, at São Paulo State, Brazil. The study will be performed by 2 years encompassing the fluctuation (or variation) of this community. We want understand how to human activities influence the changes on the aquatic plants communities and which the mainly changes in the lotic ecosystem. So, regard to pulse fluctuation pulse, likely we´ll can evaluation the changes of aquatic plants community due to wet and dry periods.
Dear Juan José,
this excellent question could be addressed in, at least, two fronts. On the one hand, through firstly translating "time series" into "multi-dimensional duration curves", i.e. from quality, quantity, biota or other impact variables. This step let novel heuristic answers come more from "probability" or "risk-based" fields and their "decoupling ability related to (time-based) pulses. On the other hand, when "multi-dimensional duration curves" are also applied to "multi-site", especially those with upstream/downstream relationships, they would also promote, in my opinion, a wider audience of decision-makers and local communities vulnerable to common (multi-)risks at the same catchments. In summary, this later advantage will produce a "regional asset" using (or not using) pulses at any hot-spot places. Experimental evidences of some rivers would trend to depict, or even confirm, these advantages ("time-step pulses approaching through multi duration curves"). Perhaps a novel, third, front would be further addressed from socio-economic nature, if those first two fronts were better elicited.
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