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Field parameterization and experimental test of the neutral theory of biodiversity

Nature volume 433, pages 309–312 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

Ecologists would like to explain general patterns observed across multi-species communities, such as species–area1 and abundance–frequency relationships1,2,3,4, in terms of the fundamental processes of birth, death and migration underlying the dynamics of all constituent species. The unified neutral theory of biodiversity5,6 and related theories7,8 based on these fundamental population processes have successfully recreated general species-abundance patterns without accounting for either the variation among species and individuals or resource-releasing processes such as predation and disturbance, long emphasized in ecological theory9,10,11,12,13,14. If ecological communities can be described adequately without estimating variation in species and their interactions15, our understanding of ecological community organization and the predicted consequences of reduced biodiversity and environmental change would shift markedly. Here, I introduce a strong method to test the neutral theory that combines field parameterization of the underlying population dynamics with a field experiment, and apply it to a rocky intertidal community. Although the observed abundance–frequency distribution of the system follows that predicted by the neutral theory, the neutral theory predicts poorly the field experimental results, indicating an essential role for variation in species interactions.

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Figure 1: Comparison of species abundance distribution from randomly placed transects in the middle intertidal zone of Tatoosh Island, Washington, USA, compared to the predicted abundance distribution under the neutral model (with 95% confidence interval).
Figure 2: Ranked abundance frequency distribution of individuals from last two censuses in experimental plots compared to the predicted abundance distribution under the neutral model (with 95% confidence interval) made without reference to species identity.
Figure 3: Comparison between species-specific predictions from the parameterized neutral model (filled circles) or model with recruitment limitation (open triangles) and observed proportional abundances in experimental mussel removal plots (error bars: 95% confidence intervals).

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Acknowledgements

I thank the Makah Tribal Council for providing access to Tatoosh Island; J. Sheridan, J. Salamunovitch, F. Stevens, A. Miller, B. Scott, J. Chase, J. Shurin, K. Rose, L. Weis, R. Kordas, K. Edwards, M. Novak, J. Duke, J. Orcutt, K. Barnes, C. Neufeld and L. Weintraub for field assistance; and NSF, EPA (CISES) and the Andrew W. Mellon foundation for partial financial support.

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  1. Department of Ecology and Evolution, The University of Chicago, 1101 East 57th Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60637, USA

    J. Timothy Wootton

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Correspondence to J. Timothy Wootton.

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Wootton, J. Field parameterization and experimental test of the neutral theory of biodiversity. Nature 433, 309–312 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03211

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