Figure 2
From: Large body size constrains dispersal assembly of communities even across short distances
Averages (with standard errors and standard deviations) of body size of oribatid mites, and abundances of the two most common species on experimental branches, M. brevipes and D. plantivaga, the former being smaller than the latter. For branches not in contact, the average size of mites on branches taken from old trees is strikingly larger than those from young trees. When branches taken from older and younger tree crowns are put into contact, the average body size of mites becomes more similar, at least partly explained by a proportional increase in D. plantivaga and a proportional decrease in M. brevipes abundance on such young-crown branches put in contact with old-crown branches. Note that the focus is on the interaction ‘contact × age’, which is significant for average body size and marginally significant for abundance of both mite species (see Table 1), rather than on comparisons between individual conditions.
