Abstract
Recent developments in community models emphasize the importance
of incorporating stochastic processes (e.g. ecological drift) in
models of niche-structured community assembly. We constructed a
finite, spatially explicit, lottery model to simulate the
distribution of species in a one-dimensional landscape with an
underlying gradient in environmental conditions. Our framework
combines the potential for ecological drift with
environmentally-mediated competition for space in a heterogeneous
environment. We examined the influence of niche breadth, dispersal
distances, community size (total number of individuals) and the
breadth of the environmental gradient on levels of species and
functional trait diversity (i.e. differences in niche optima).
Three novel results emerge from this model: (1) niche differences
between adjacent species (e.g. limiting similarity) increase in
smaller communities, because of the interaction of competitive
effects and finite population sizes; (2) immigration from a
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 272-281 |
Journal | Ecology Letters |
State | Published - 2005 |