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Levels of Spatial Variability: The “Community” Problem

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 July 2017

D. A. Springer and
A. I. Miller
D. A. Springer
Affiliation:
Department of Geography and Earth Science, Bloomsburg University, Bloomsburg, PA 17815
A. I. Miller
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221
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Extract

The way we view species distribution patterns, particularly at the level commonly referred to as the “community”, has changed over the past 70 years in biology and, subsequently, in paleontology. Because the degree to which species associations can be interpreted as ecological and evolutionary units depends ultimately on recognition and interpretation of faunal spatial variability, we need to understand the nature of this variability at all levels of resolution before we can adequately address questions of “community” structure and dynamics. While it is possible to recognize spatial variability at several levels, from the distributions of individuals within a species to the overall pattern created by the global biota, we must ask whether these patterns really comprise a hierarchy with natural discontinuities (Fig. 1), or whether it is more realistic to view them as a continuous variability spectrum.

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