Effects of spatial structure of population size on the population dynamics of barnacles across their elevational range

1. Explanations for why population dynamics vary across the range of a species reflect two contrasting hypotheses: (1) temporal variability of populations is larger in the centre of the range compared to the margins because overcompensatory density dependence destabilizes population dynamics, and (2) population variability is larger near the margins, where populations are more susceptible to environmental fluctuations. In both of these hypotheses, positions within the range are assumed to affect population variability. 2. In contrast, the fact that population variability is often related to mean population size implies that the spatial structure of the population size within the range of a species may also be a useful predictor of the spatial variation of temporal variability of population size over the range of the species. 3. To explore how population temporal variability varies spatially and the underlying processes responsible for the spatial variation, we focused on the intertidal ...