They display patterns and regularities across life and are positively correlated with, and partly predictable by, abiotic and biotic environmental heterogeneity and stress.
The organization and evolution of genetic diversity in nature at global, regional, and local scales are nonrandom and heavily structured; and are positively correlated with, and partly predictable by, abiotic and biotic environmental heterogeneity and stress [ 51], as shown earlier by allozyme and DNA markers.
Specifically applied to the deep sea, Levin et al. [21] presented a schematic model based on five ecological forces (productivity, flow, bottom-water oxygen, sediment heterogeneity, biotic disturbance) to predict regional-scale variation of local diversity (1 10 m2).
Bite weight seems to be more sensitive to the structural effects of local sward attributes, while behaviors at higher levels in the hierarchy (i.e. patches, feeding sites, home ranges) are more dependent on changes in feeding motivation driven by integrated responses to large scale biotic and abiotic heterogeneity [ 1, 3, 35].
I am especially interested in the role that biotic interactions and environmental heterogeneity play in the morphological, functional, and genetic diversity of tropical trees, and how these factors influence the distribution and speciation of plants.
We can expect marginal populations of ecosystem engineers in suboptimal habitats to contribute to spatial heterogeneity in biotic patterns and eventual ecosystem stability.
This study provides valuable insight into how diverse attackers with different feeding strategies can interact indirectly, depending on the spatio-temporal heterogeneity of biotic attacks.
Heterogeneity in biotic and abiotic factors can result in differential selective pressures across populations, promoting genetic differentiation and local adaptation.
The implication, therefore, is that despite the mutational asymmetry, extensive bacteria phage coevolution is possible, even in the absence of environmental heterogeneity or biotic complexity, although further data from alternate systems are required before any broad generalizations can be made.
