Today the main scientific belief on the mechanisms for the formation of community structure is the concept of ecological niches and the “neutral theory”. We consider processes of diversity optimization at the levels of populations and ecological communities as an additional type of the mechanisms. Basing on the principle of optimal diversity a scheme for cooperative effect of different mechanisms of formation of the communities species structure is proposed: 1 ‒ number of species and their niches width is primarily determined by the processes of diversity optimization, according with an available resources levels and the degree of environmental stability; 2 – these parameters are modified by other mechanisms during the formation of the species composition, depending on the ratio of the environmental “richness” and stability: ‒ neutral mechanisms work primarily in very “rich” or very stable environments;‒ niche mechanisms work primarily in the environments with medium values of the “richness” and stability, rather when the number of niches with optimal width, which divide the available range of the resource parameter and the number of species that may exist on the available quantity of the resource, are approximately equal;‒ “abiotic filters” work primarily in poor, severe, or extremely unstable environments.
Published in | American Journal of Life Sciences (Volume 1, Issue 4) |
DOI | 10.11648/j.ajls.20130104.16 |
Page(s) | 174-183 |
Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2013. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Biological Diversity, Phenotypic and Species Diversity, Optimization, Ecological Niches
[1] | Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Ecosystems and Human Wellbeing: Synthesis. Island Press, Washington, DC. 2005. |
[2] | J. M. Chase and M.A. Leibold. Ecological Niches: linking classical and contemporary approaches. Chicago University Press, 2003, 212 p. |
[3] | G. M. Aleshchenko and E. N. Bukvareva, "Two-Level Hierarchical Model of Optimal Biological Diversity," Biology Bulletin, vol. 37, № 1, pp. 1–9, 2010. |
[4] | G. M. Aleshchenko and E. N. Bukvareva, "The Principle of Optimal Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning," International Journal of Ecosystem, vol. 2, № 4, pp. 78-87, 2012. |
[5] | M. W. Palmer, "Variation in species richness: towards a unification of hypotheses," Folia Geobot. Phytotaxon., vol. 29, № 4, pp. 511–530, 1994. |
[6] | R. M. May, R. H. MacArthur, "Niche overlap as a function of environmental variability," Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA, vol. 69, № 5, pp. 1109-1113, 1972. |
[7] | R. M. May, Stability and complexity in model ecosystems, Princeton Univ. Press, 235 p. 1973. |
[8] | P. Szabo and G. Meszéna, "Limiting Similarity Revisited," Oikos, vol. 112, № 3, pp. 612–619, 2005. |
[9] | 9 R. Petersen, "The Paradox of the Plankton: An Equilibrium Hypothesis," The American Naturalist, vol. 109, № 965, pp. 35-49, 1975. |
[10] | D. Tilman 1982. Resource competition and community structure. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. 296 p. |
[11] | J. H. Connell, "Diversity in rain forests and coral reefs," Science, vol. 199, № 4335, pp. 1302–1309, 1978. |
[12] | S. P. Hubbell, "Neutral theory in community ecology and the hypothesis of functional equivalence," Functional Ecology, vol. 19, № 1, pp. 166–172, 2005. |
[13] | J. S. Clark, "Individuals and the variation needed for high species diversity in forest trees," Science, vol. 327, № 5969, pp. 1129–1132, 2010. |
[14] | A. S. Severtsov, S. M. Lyapkov and G. S. Surova, "The ratio of ecological niches grass (Rana temporaria L.) and the moor (Rana arvalis Nilss.) frogs (Anura, Amphibia)," Zhurnal obschey biologii, vol. 59, № 3, pp. 279-301, 1998 (in Russian). |
[15] | B. Herault, A. Bornet and M. Tremolieres, "Redundancy and niche differentiation among the European invasive Elodea species," Biol. Invasions, vol. 10, № 7, pp. 1099–1107, 2008. |
[16] | M. Pfenninger and K. Schwenk, "Cryptic animal species are homogeneously distributed among taxa and biogeographical regions," BMC Evol. Biol., vol. 7, pp. 121-126, 2007. |
[17] | D. Bickford, D. J. Lohman, N. S. Sodhi, P. K. L. Ng, R. Meier, K. Winker at al., "Cryptic species as a window on diversity and conservation," TRENDS in Ecology and Evolution, vol. 22, № 3, pp. 148 – 155, 2006. |
[18] | C. P. Blair, W. G. Abrahamson, J. A. Jackman and L. Tyrrell, "Cryptic speciation and host-race formation in a purportedly generalist tumbling flower beetle," Evolution, vol. 59, № 2, pp. 304–316, 2005. |
[19] | J. O. Stireman III, J. D. Nason and S. B. Heard, "Host-associated genetic differentiation in phytophagous insects: general phenomenon or isolated exceptions? Evidence from a goldenrod-insect community," Evolution, vol. 59, № 12, pp. 2573–2587, 2005. |
[20] | P. D. N. Hebert, E. H. Penton, J. M. Burns, D. H. Janzen and W. Hallwachs, "Ten species in one: DNA barcoding reveals cryptic species in the neotropical skipper butterfly Astraptes fulgerator," Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A, vol. 101, № 41, pp. 14812–14817, 2004. |
[21] | M. Kankare, S. Van Nouhuys and I. Hanski, "Genetic divergence among host-specific cryptic species in Cotesia melitaearum aggregate (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), parasitoids of checkerspot ," Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am., vol. 98, № 3, pp. 382–394, 2005. |
[22] | M. A. Smith, N. E. Woodley, D. H. Janzen, W. Hallwachs and P. D. N. Hebert, "DNA barcodes reveal cryptic host-specificity within the presumed polyphagous members of a genus of parasitoid flies (Diptera: Tachinidae)," Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A, vol. 103, № 10, pp. 3657–3662, 2006. |
[23] | D. Molbo, C. A. Machado, J. G. Sevenster, L. Keller and E. A. Herre, "Cryptic species of fig-pollinating wasps: implications for the evolution of the fig-wasp mutualism, sex allocation, and precision of adaptation," Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA, vol. 100, № 10, pp. 5867–5872, 2003. |
[24] | J. B. Wilson, "Mechanisms of species coexistence: twelve explanations for Hutchinson’s "paradox of the nplancton": evidence from New Sealand plant communities," New Zealand Journal of Ecology, vol. 13, № 1, pp.17-42, 1990. |
[25] | P. L. Chesson, "Mechanisms of maintenance of species diversity," Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, vol. 31, pp. 343–366, 2000. |
[26] | S. J. Wright, "Plant diversity in tropical forests: a review of mechanisms of species coexistenc," Oecologia, vol. 130, № 1, pp. 1–14, 2002. |
[27] | S. Barot, "Mechanisms promoting plant coexistence: can all the proposed processes be reconciled?" Oikos, vol. 106, № 1, pp. 185-192, 2004. |
[28] | J. M. Chase, "Towards a really unified theory for metacommunities," Functional Ecology, vol. 19, № 1, pp. 182-186, 2005. |
[29] | S. P. Hubbell, The Unified Neutral Theory of Biodiversity and Biogeography, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 448 p., 2001. |
[30] | G. Bell, "The distribution of abundance in neutral communities," The American Naturalist, vol. 155, № 5, pp. 606-617, 2000. |
[31] | G. Bell, "Neutral macroecology," Science, vol. 293, № 5539, pp. 2413-2418, 2001. |
[32] | C. P. Doncaster, "Ecological equivalence: a realistic assumption for niche theory as a testable alternative to neutral theory," PLoS ONE, vol. 4, № 10, 8 p., 2009. |
[33] | J. S. Clark, "Beyond neutral science // Trends in Ecology and Evolution," V. 24, № 1, pp. 8-15, 2008. |
[34] | K. J. Gaston and S. L. Chown, "Neutrality and the niche," Functional Ecology, vol. 19, № 1, pp. 1-6, 2005. |
[35] | M. Holyoak and M. Loreau, "Reconciling empirical ecology with neutral community models," Ecology, vol. 87, № 6, pp. 1370-1377, 2006. |
[36] | I. Volkov, J. R. Banavar, S. P. Hubbell and A. Maritan, "Patterns of relative species abundance in rainforests and coral reefs," Nature, vol. 450, № 7166, pp. 45-49, 2007. |
[37] | G. Bell, M. J. Lechowicz and M. J. Waterway, "The comparative evidence relating to functional and neutral interprtetations of biological communities," Ecology, vol. 87, № 6, pp. 1378–1386, 2006. |
[38] | B. J. McGill, B. A. Maurer and M. D. Weiser, "Empirical evaluation of neutral theory," Ecology, vol. 87, № 6, pp. 1411-1423, 2006. |
[39] | P. B. Adler, J. Hillerislambers and J. M. Levine, "A niche for neutrality," Ecology Letters, vol. 10, № 2, pp. 95–104, 2007. |
[40] | J. Chave, H. C. Muller-Landau and S. A. Levin, "Comparing classical community models: theoretical consequences for patterns of diversity," The American Naturalist, vol. 159, № 1, pp. 1-23, 2002. |
[41] | D. Gravel, C. D. Canham, M. Beaudet and C. Messier, "Reconciling niche and neutrality: the continuum hypothesis," Ecology Letters, vol. 9, № 4, pp. 399–409, 2006. |
[42] | B. Herault, "Reconciling niche and neutrality through the Emergent Group approach," Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics, vol. 9, № 2, pp. 71–78, 2007. |
[43] | M. Scheffer and E.H. van Nes, "Self-organized similarity, the evolutionary emergence of groups of similar species," Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, vol. 103, № 16, pp. 6230–6235, 2006. |
[44] | E. M. Spehn, A. Hector, J. Joshi, M. Scherer-Lorenzen, B. Schmid, E. Bazeley-White et al., "Ecosystem effects of biodiversity manipulations in European grasslands," Ecological Monographs, vol. 75, № 1, pp. 37–63, 2005. |
[45] | A. Hector, Y. Hautier, P. Saner, L. Wacker, R. Bagchi, J. Joshi et al., "General stabilizing effects of plant diversity on grassland productivity through population asynchrony and overyielding," Ecology, vol. 91, № 8, pp. 2213−2220, 2010. |
[46] | S. N. Sheremet'ev and Y. Gamaley, "Trends in ecological evolution of herbs," Zhurnal obschey biologii, vol. 70, № 6, pp. 459-483, 2009 (in Russian). |
[47] | A.S. Severtsov, "Microevolution and phylocoenogenesis," Evolutionary Biology. Proceedings of the conference "The problem of species and speciation," vol.1. Tomsk: Tomsk State University, pp. 89-105, 2001 (in Russian). |
[48] | N. L. Orlov, "Vietnam cryptic species of amphibians and their importance for the evaluation of the taxonomic diversity," Uspehi sovremennoy biologii, vol. 127, № 6, pp. 612-621, 2007 (in Russian). |
APA Style
Bukvareva Elena, Aleshchenko Gleb. (2013). Optimization, Niche and Neutral Mechanisms in the Formation of Biodiversity. American Journal of Life Sciences, 1(4), 174-183. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajls.20130104.16
ACS Style
Bukvareva Elena; Aleshchenko Gleb. Optimization, Niche and Neutral Mechanisms in the Formation of Biodiversity. Am. J. Life Sci. 2013, 1(4), 174-183. doi: 10.11648/j.ajls.20130104.16
AMA Style
Bukvareva Elena, Aleshchenko Gleb. Optimization, Niche and Neutral Mechanisms in the Formation of Biodiversity. Am J Life Sci. 2013;1(4):174-183. doi: 10.11648/j.ajls.20130104.16
@article{10.11648/j.ajls.20130104.16, author = {Bukvareva Elena and Aleshchenko Gleb}, title = {Optimization, Niche and Neutral Mechanisms in the Formation of Biodiversity}, journal = {American Journal of Life Sciences}, volume = {1}, number = {4}, pages = {174-183}, doi = {10.11648/j.ajls.20130104.16}, url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajls.20130104.16}, eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajls.20130104.16}, abstract = {Today the main scientific belief on the mechanisms for the formation of community structure is the concept of ecological niches and the “neutral theory”. We consider processes of diversity optimization at the levels of populations and ecological communities as an additional type of the mechanisms. Basing on the principle of optimal diversity a scheme for cooperative effect of different mechanisms of formation of the communities species structure is proposed: 1 ‒ number of species and their niches width is primarily determined by the processes of diversity optimization, according with an available resources levels and the degree of environmental stability; 2 – these parameters are modified by other mechanisms during the formation of the species composition, depending on the ratio of the environmental “richness” and stability: ‒ neutral mechanisms work primarily in very “rich” or very stable environments;‒ niche mechanisms work primarily in the environments with medium values of the “richness” and stability, rather when the number of niches with optimal width, which divide the available range of the resource parameter and the number of species that may exist on the available quantity of the resource, are approximately equal;‒ “abiotic filters” work primarily in poor, severe, or extremely unstable environments.}, year = {2013} }
TY - JOUR T1 - Optimization, Niche and Neutral Mechanisms in the Formation of Biodiversity AU - Bukvareva Elena AU - Aleshchenko Gleb Y1 - 2013/08/20 PY - 2013 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajls.20130104.16 DO - 10.11648/j.ajls.20130104.16 T2 - American Journal of Life Sciences JF - American Journal of Life Sciences JO - American Journal of Life Sciences SP - 174 EP - 183 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2328-5737 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajls.20130104.16 AB - Today the main scientific belief on the mechanisms for the formation of community structure is the concept of ecological niches and the “neutral theory”. We consider processes of diversity optimization at the levels of populations and ecological communities as an additional type of the mechanisms. Basing on the principle of optimal diversity a scheme for cooperative effect of different mechanisms of formation of the communities species structure is proposed: 1 ‒ number of species and their niches width is primarily determined by the processes of diversity optimization, according with an available resources levels and the degree of environmental stability; 2 – these parameters are modified by other mechanisms during the formation of the species composition, depending on the ratio of the environmental “richness” and stability: ‒ neutral mechanisms work primarily in very “rich” or very stable environments;‒ niche mechanisms work primarily in the environments with medium values of the “richness” and stability, rather when the number of niches with optimal width, which divide the available range of the resource parameter and the number of species that may exist on the available quantity of the resource, are approximately equal;‒ “abiotic filters” work primarily in poor, severe, or extremely unstable environments. VL - 1 IS - 4 ER -