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Neutral theory (communication arising)

The stability of forest biodiversity

Nature volume 427, page 696 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

The unified neutral theory of biodiversity and biogeography1 provides a dynamic null hypothesis for the assembly of natural communities. It is also useful for understanding the influence of speciation, extinction, dispersal and ecological drift on patterns of relative species abundance, species–area relationships and phylogeny. Clark and McLachlan2 argue that neutral drift is inconsistent with the palaeorecord of stability in fossil pollen assemblages of the Holocene forests of southern Canada. We show here that their analysis is based on a partial misunderstanding of neutral theory and that their data alone cannot unambiguously test its validity.

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References

  1. Hubbell, S.P. The Unified Neutral Theory of Biodiversity and Biogeography (Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, NJ, 2001).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, 104 Davey Laboratory, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, 16802, USA

    Igor Volkov & Jayanth R. Banavar

  2. Dipartimento di Fisica ‘G. Galilei’, Universita di Padova and INFM 35131 Padova, and Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, 34014, Italy

    Amos Maritan

  3. Department of Plant Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, 30602, Georgia, USA

    Stephen P. Hubbell

  4. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama

    Stephen P. Hubbell

Authors
  1. Igor Volkov
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  2. Jayanth R. Banavar
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  3. Amos Maritan
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  4. Stephen P. Hubbell
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jayanth R. Banavar.

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Volkov, I., Banavar, J., Maritan, A. et al. The stability of forest biodiversity. Nature 427, 696 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/427696a

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