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Coral reef diversity refutes the neutral theory of biodiversity

Author

Listed:
  • Maria Dornelas

    (ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
    James Cook University)

  • Sean R. Connolly

    (ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
    James Cook University)

  • Terence P. Hughes

    (ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies)

Abstract

Neutral theory draws a blank The global decline of coral reefs highlights the need to understand how biodiversity is sustained in these ecosystems. Most established theories explain biodiversity as a consequence of differences in the ecological roles of each species, but recently a radical alternative has gained ground. The unified neutral theory accounts for community structure and biodiversity by assuming that species are demographically identical and vary in number via chance variation in births, deaths and dispersal. The structure of coral communities would seem to make them ideal territory for this theory. But in a new test of neutral theory in Pacific coral reefs it fails: and surprisingly the real-life findings deviate from theory in an opposite direction to that predicted in most critiques. The findings stress the importance of local factors in reef diversity.

Suggested Citation

  • Maria Dornelas & Sean R. Connolly & Terence P. Hughes, 2006. "Coral reef diversity refutes the neutral theory of biodiversity," Nature, Nature, vol. 440(7080), pages 80-82, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:440:y:2006:i:7080:d:10.1038_nature04534
    DOI: 10.1038/nature04534
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    Cited by:

    1. Beeravolu, Champak R. & Couteron, Pierre & Pélissier, Raphaël & Munoz, François, 2009. "Studying ecological communities from a neutral standpoint: A review of models’ structure and parameter estimation," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 220(20), pages 2603-2610.
    2. Tancredi Caruso & Jeff R Powell & Matthias C Rillig, 2012. "Compositional Divergence and Convergence in Local Communities and Spatially Structured Landscapes," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(4), pages 1-10, April.
    3. White, Denis & Rashleigh, Brenda, 2012. "Effects of stream topology on ecological community results from neutral models," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 231(C), pages 20-24.
    4. Brice X Semmens & Peter J Auster & Michelle J Paddack, 2010. "Using Ecological Null Models to Assess the Potential for Marine Protected Area Networks to Protect Biodiversity," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 5(1), pages 1-9, January.
    5. Cazzolla Gatti, Roberto & Amoroso, Nicola & Monaco, Alfonso, 2020. "Estimating and comparing biodiversity with a single universal metric," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 424(C).

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