IDENTIFICATION OF RELEVANT TIME-SCALES IN NONEQUILIBRIUM COMMUNITY DYNAMICS - CONCLUSIONS FROM PHYTOPLANKTON SURVEYS

This paper is a reflection on J.B. Wilson's (1990) publication which p resents an attempt to understand the development of terrestrial plant communities of New Zealand against twelve different explanations of Hu tchinson's Paradox. I make a rough comparison between terrestrial and planktonic communities; then I briefly review Hutchinson's Paradox and some of the later relevant phytoplankton results. I summarize the rel evance of the IDH in phytoplankton dynamics, assessing its strengths a nd weaknesses; and finally, try to project our conclusions to terrestr ial plant communities; this concerns chiefly the need for appropriate spatial and temporal scaling.