Neutral theory of biodiversity: Controversies and a transvaluation of species conservation

This chapter reviews the history of the use of phylogenetics in ecology, beginning with a discussion of early attempts to classify the diversity of life and the development of evolutionary theory. In particular, it examines how early taxonomists, starting with Carl Linnaeus, have grouped species by similarity in their traits and how early ecologists and biologists such as Charles Darwin recognized the importance of relatedness in influencing ecological interactions and species distributions. The chapter proceeds by focusing on the introduction of the neutral theory of biodiversity into mainstream ecology and the development of the niche-based model of community assembly. It also considers how some ecologists questioned the relevance of phylogenetic corrections for ecology and concludes by analyzing the emergence of ecological phylogenetics or ecophylogenetics.

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THE UNIFIED NEUTRAL THEORY OF BIODIVERSITY: DO THE NUMBERS ADD UP?

Ecology ◽

10.1890/0012-9658(2006)87[1424:tuntob]2.0.co;2 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 87 (6) ◽

pp. 1424-1431 ◽

Cited By ~ 100

Author(s):

Robert E. Ricklefs

Keyword(s):

Neutral Theory ◽

Neutral Theory Of Biodiversity

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Predicting community structure in snakes on Eastern Nearctic islands using ecological neutral theory and phylogenetic methods

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2015.1700 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 282 (1819) ◽

pp. 20151700 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Frank T. Burbrink ◽

Alexander D. McKelvy ◽

R. Alexander Pyron ◽

Edward A. Myers

Keyword(s):

Community Structure ◽

Island Biogeography ◽

Neutral Theory ◽

Species Abundance ◽

Phylogenetic Methods ◽

Island Communities ◽

Theory Of Island Biogeography ◽

Neutral Theory Of Biodiversity ◽

Neutral Models ◽

Better Than

Predicting species presence and richness on islands is important for understanding the origins of communities and how likely it is that species will disperse and resist extinction. The equilibrium theory of island biogeography (ETIB) and, as a simple model of sampling abundances, the unified neutral theory of biodiversity (UNTB), predict that in situations where mainland to island migration is high, species-abundance relationships explain the presence of taxa on islands. Thus, more abundant mainland species should have a higher probability of occurring on adjacent islands. In contrast to UNTB, if certain groups have traits that permit them to disperse to islands better than other taxa, then phylogeny may be more predictive of which taxa will occur on islands. Taking surveys of 54 island snake communities in the Eastern Nearctic along with mainland communities that have abundance data for each species, we use phylogenetic assembly methods and UNTB estimates to predict island communities. Species richness is predicted by island area, whereas turnover from the mainland to island communities is random with respect to phylogeny. Community structure appears to be ecologically neutral and abundance on the mainland is the best predictor of presence on islands. With regard to young and proximate islands, where allopatric or cladogenetic speciation is not a factor, we find that simple neutral models following UNTB and ETIB predict the structure of island communities.

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