Emergent neutrality in consumer-resource dynamics.

ABSTRACT: Neutral theory assumes all species and individuals in a community are ecologically equivalent. This controversial hypothesis has been tested across many taxonomic groups and environmental contexts, and successfully predicts species abundance distributions across multiple high-diversity communities. However, it has been critiqued for its failure to predict a broader range of community properties, particularly regarding community dynamics from generational to geological timescales. Moreover, it is unclear whether neutrality can ever be a true description of a community given the ubiquity of interspecific differences, which presumably lead to ecological inequivalences. Here we derive analytical predictions for when and why non-neutral communities of consumers and resources may present neutral

SUBMITTER: D'Andrea R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7446820 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature