Florian Hartig Theoretical Ecology & Ecological Data Science

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Consequences of local conspecific density effects for plant diversity and community dynamics

Joseph A. LaManna, Florian Hartig, Jonathan A. Myers, Robert P. Freckleton, Matteo Detto, Akshay Surendra, Cole J. Doolittle, Bénédicte Bachelot, Robert Bagchi, Liza S. Comita, David M. DeFilippis, Nohemi Huanca-Nunez, Lisa Hülsmann, Fiona V. Jevon, Daniel J. Johnson, Meghna Krishnadas, Lukas J. Magee, Scott A. Mangan, Valerie R. Milici, Aimé Lucky Barahebuza Murengera, Stefan A. Schnitzer, Daniel J. B. Smith, Claudia Stein, Megan K. Sullivan, Ethan Torres, María Natalia Umaña, Camille S. Delavaux

Ecology Letters, 27(9), e14506 (2024)
Cite this
@article{lamanna2024consequences,
  author = {Joseph A. LaManna and Florian Hartig and Jonathan A. Myers and Robert P. Freckleton and Matteo Detto and Akshay Surendra and Cole J. Doolittle and Bénédicte Bachelot and Robert Bagchi and Liza S. Comita and David M. DeFilippis and Nohemi Huanca-Nunez and Lisa Hülsmann and Fiona V. Jevon and Daniel J. Johnson and Meghna Krishnadas and Lukas J. Magee and Scott A. Mangan and Valerie R. Milici and Aimé Lucky Barahebuza Murengera and Stefan A. Schnitzer and Daniel J. B. Smith and Claudia Stein and Megan K. Sullivan and Ethan Torres and María Natalia Umaña and Camille S. Delavaux},
  title = {Consequences of local conspecific density effects for plant diversity and community dynamics},
  journal = {Ecology Letters},
  volume = {27},
  number = {9},
  pages = {e14506},
  year = {2024},
  doi = {10.1111/ele.14506},
}

DOI: 10.1111/ele.14506
Cited by 22 (Google Scholar) · 16 (OpenAlex), as of 07 September 2026

View article (DOI)

Abstract

Conspecific density dependence (CDD) in plant populations is widespread, most likely caused by local-scale biotic interactions, and has potentially important implications for biodiversity, community composition, and ecosystem processes. However, progress in this important area of ecology has been hindered by differing viewpoints on CDD across subfields in ecology, lack of synthesis across CDD-related frameworks, and misunderstandings about how empirical measurements of local CDD fit within the context of broader ecological theories on community assembly and diversity maintenance. Here, we propose a conceptual synthesis of local-scale CDD and its causes, including species-specific antagonistic and mutualistic interactions, comparing and clarifying different uses of CDD and related concepts across subfields within ecology. We suggest the use of local stabilizing/destabilizing CDD to refer to the scenario where local conspecific density effects are more negative/positive than heterospecific effects, discuss different mechanisms for each and how they cut across several fields of study, and place local stabilizing/destabilizing CDD within the context of broader ecological theories. The ultimate goal of this synthesis is to provide a conceptual roadmap for researchers studying local CDD and its implications for population and community dynamics.

What the paper shows and why it matters (AI-generated)

Different subfields of ecology have studied the tendency for plants to fare worse near others of their own species under different names and different assumptions, which has made it hard to connect this well-documented local mechanism to the landscape-level diversity patterns it's supposed to help explain. This synthesis proposes shared terminology — stabilizing versus destabilizing conspecific density dependence — and traces the mechanisms and theoretical connections across those separate literatures, giving researchers a common vocabulary to build on.