Estimating species-area relationships from plot to landscape scale using species spatial-turnover data

Vegetation census data from montane meadow plots are used to test a predicted connection between the species-area relationship, S = cA(z), and the dependence of interpatch species turnover on patch area A, interpatch distance D, and the species-area exponent z. At small spatial scales, from D≃ 1-10 m, where species-area parameters can be independently estimated, the prediction is confirmed; at larger scales, from D ≃ 1-10⁴ m, the scale-dependence of z is deduced. A predicted dependence of species richness on the shape of censused patches is also confirmed. Our results indicate that readily obtainable species-turnover data between distant small patches can be used to estimate species-area exponents at landscape scales where census data for nested areas are generally not available, thereby improving our ability to estimate landscape-scale species richness and rarity.