Stability

@article{dunbar1960the,
    author = "Dunbar, M. J.",
    title = "The Evolution of Stability in Marine Environments Natural Selection at the Level of the Ecosystem",
    year = "1960",
    journal = "The American Naturalist",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1086/282114",
    doi = "10.1086/282114",
    number = "875",
    pages = "129-136",
    volume = "94"
}

@misc{dunbar1960the1,
    author = "Dunbar, M. J",
    title = "The evolution of stability in marine environments",
    year = "1960",
    howpublished = "natural selection at the level of the ecosystem: American Naturalist, v. 94, p. 129-136",
    note = "talkorigins\_source = {true}; raw\_reference = {Dunbar, M. J., 1960, The evolution of stability in marine environments: natural selection at the level of the ecosystem: American Naturalist, v. 94, p. 129-136.}"
}

@incollection{dunbar2017the,
    author = "Dunbar, M. J.",
    title = "The Evolution of Stability in Marine Environments: Natural Selection at the Level of the Ecosystem",
    year = "2017",
    booktitle = "Group Selection",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203790427-13",
    doi = "10.4324/9780203790427-13",
    pages = "125-136"
}

Marine nematodes, as dominant meiofaunal organisms in benthic ecosystems, play crucial roles in energy flux and serve as sensitive bioindicators of environmental change. This study investigated the spatiotemporal distribution of nematode assemblages in the southern Yellow Sea during the summer and autumn of 2020 by integrating analyses of taxonomic composition and functional traits. Results identified pronounced spatial heterogeneity driven by the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass (YSCWM): stations deeper than 60 m exhibited significantly lower abundance, species richness (S), Shannon diversity (H'), and functional richness (FRic), yet showed elevated functional dispersion (FDis) and Rao's quadratic entropy (RaoQ). Bottom water temperature (BWT) and sediment median diameter (Md) were the primary environmental filters, explaining 19.1% of community variation (p < 0.01). Epistratum feeders (2A) predominated across seasons, indicating a relatively stable diatom-based food web. Notably, functional complementarity was enhanced despite taxonomic loss in YSCWM-influenced areas, revealing adaptive trait divergence under intense physical filtering. Integrated environmental assessments using MI, ITD, and H' revealed significant spatial incongruence, as traditional taxonomic indices failed to distinguish thermal suppression from localized environmental stressors. Our findings underscore the critical value of combining both species and functional diversity metrics to accurately characterize ecosystem stability and health in dynamic marine environments.

@article{doi101016jmarenvres2026108061,
    author = "Wang, Zhe and Gao, Shenhan and Song, Yuanliu and Huang, Mian and Liu, Xiaoshou",
    title = "Combining taxonomic and functional traits of marine nematodes to assess benthic environmental quality in the southern Yellow Sea.",
    year = "2026",
    journal = "Marine environmental research",
    abstract = "Marine nematodes, as dominant meiofaunal organisms in benthic ecosystems, play crucial roles in energy flux and serve as sensitive bioindicators of environmental change. This study investigated the spatiotemporal distribution of nematode assemblages in the southern Yellow Sea during the summer and autumn of 2020 by integrating analyses of taxonomic composition and functional traits. Results identified pronounced spatial heterogeneity driven by the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass (YSCWM): stations deeper than 60 m exhibited significantly lower abundance, species richness (S), Shannon diversity (H'), and functional richness (FRic), yet showed elevated functional dispersion (FDis) and Rao's quadratic entropy (RaoQ). Bottom water temperature (BWT) and sediment median diameter (Md) were the primary environmental filters, explaining 19.1\% of community variation (p < 0.01). Epistratum feeders (2A) predominated across seasons, indicating a relatively stable diatom-based food web. Notably, functional complementarity was enhanced despite taxonomic loss in YSCWM-influenced areas, revealing adaptive trait divergence under intense physical filtering. Integrated environmental assessments using MI, ITD, and H' revealed significant spatial incongruence, as traditional taxonomic indices failed to distinguish thermal suppression from localized environmental stressors. Our findings underscore the critical value of combining both species and functional diversity metrics to accurately characterize ecosystem stability and health in dynamic marine environments.",
    url = "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42001784/",
    doi = "10.1016/j.marenvres.2026.108061",
    pmid = "42001784"
}