Journal ArticleDOI
The case for ecological neutral theory
James Rosindell,James Rosindell,James Rosindell,Stephen P. Hubbell,Stephen P. Hubbell,Fangliang He,Fangliang He,Luke J. Harmon,Rampal S. Etienne +8 more
TLDR
It is explained how neutral theory cannot be simultaneously used both as a null hypothesis and as an approximation, and it is shown howneutral theory always has a valuable use in one of these two roles, even though the real world is not neutral.Abstract:
Ecological neutral theory has elicited strong opinions in recent years Here, we review these opinions and strip away some unfortunate problems with semantics to reveal three major underlying questions Only one of these relates to neutral theory and the importance of ecological drift, whereas the others involve the link between pattern and process, the tradeoff between simplicity and complexity in modeling, and the role of stochasticity and drift in ecology We explain how neutral theory cannot be simultaneously used both as a null hypothesis and as an approximation However, we also show how neutral theory always has a valuable use in one of these two roles, even though the real world is not neutralread more
Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
The Theory of Island Biogeography
TL;DR: Preface to the Princeton Landmarks in Biology Edition vii Preface xi Symbols used xiii 1.
Journal ArticleDOI
Stochastic Community Assembly: Does It Matter in Microbial Ecology?
TL;DR: Both stochastic and deterministic components embedded in various ecological processes, including selection, dispersal, diversification, and drift are described.
Journal ArticleDOI
Application of a neutral community model to assess structuring of the human lung microbiome
Arvind Venkataraman,Christine M. Bassis,James M. Beck,James M. Beck,Vincent B. Young,Jeffrey L. Curtis,Gary B. Huffnagle,Thomas M. Schmidt +7 more
TL;DR: It is found that the composition of the healthy lung microbiome is consistent with predictions of the neutral model, reflecting the overriding role of dispersal of microbes from the oral cavity in shaping the microbial community in healthy lungs.
Journal ArticleDOI
Assessing the relative importance of neutral stochasticity in ecological communities
Mark Vellend,Diane S. Srivastava,Kathryn Anderson,Carissa D. Brown,Jill E. Jankowski,Elizabeth J. Kleynhans,Nathan J. B. Kraft,Alathea Diana Letaw,A. Andrew M. MacDonald,Janet E. Maclean,Isla H. Myers-Smith,Andrea R. Norris,Xinxin Xue +12 more
TL;DR: Conceptual clarity is provided by specifying precisely what focal ecological variable is considered to be stochastic with respect to what other variables when using different empirical methods, and what inferences can be drawn by different observational and experimental approaches.
Journal ArticleDOI
Urbanisation tolerance and the loss of avian diversity.
TL;DR: It is shown that although random processes account for part of the species loss associated with urbanisation, much of the loss is associated with a lack of appropriate adaptations of most species for exploiting resources and avoiding risks of the urban environments.
References
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
The Theory of Island Biogeography
TL;DR: Preface to the Princeton Landmarks in Biology Edition vii Preface xi Symbols used xiii 1.
Book
The Theory of Island Biogeography
TL;DR: The Princeton Landmarks in Biology Edition vii Preface xi Symbols Used xiii 1. The Importance of Islands 3 2. Area and Number of Speicies 8 3. Further Explanations of the Area-Diversity Pattern 19 4. The Strategy of Colonization 68 5. Invasibility and the Variable Niche 94 6. Stepping Stones and Biotic Exchange 123 7. Evolutionary Changes Following Colonization 145 8. Prospect 181 Glossary 185 References 193 Index 201
Journal ArticleDOI
The Problem of Pattern and Scale in Ecology: The Robert H. MacArthur Award Lecture
TL;DR: The second volume in a series on terrestrial and marine comparisons focusing on the temporal complement of the earlier spatial analysis of patchiness and pattern was published by Levin et al..
Book
The Unified Neutral Theory of Biodiversity and Biogeography
TL;DR: A study of the issue indicates that it is not a serious problem for neutral theory, and there is sometimes a difference between some of the simulation-based results of Hubbell and the analytical results of Volkov et al. (2003).
BookDOI
Evolution in Changing Environments: Some Theoretical Explorations. (MPB-2)
TL;DR: Professor Levins, one of the leading explorers in the field of integrated population biology, considers the mutual interpenetration and joint evolution of organism and environment, occurring on several levels at once.