How do species coexistence mechanisms work? And how do we know how strong they are? Our lab has developed measures of mechanism strength based on how much a mechanism increases the rate of recovery of a species from low density. In nature, species always fluctuate, and if they are to remain in a community, they must recover from their low excursions. Focusing on these recovery rates, we have found ways of quantifying mechanism strength in terms of the functional components that define the mechanism. This has led not only to a big increase in understanding of mechanism functioning, but also powerful new ways of testing mechanisms.
