Effects of the spatial heterogeneity on the diversity of ecosystems with resource competition

Misael B. de Souza Júnior, Fernando F. Ferreira and Viviane M. de Oliveira

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 2014, vol. 393, issue C, 312-319

Abstract: The understanding of the mechanisms that promote biodiversity has implications for conservation and extinction of species and has raised the interest of the scientific community in the last decades. It is well established that spatial heterogeneity is an important factor influencing species richness. In this work we use a discrete computer simulation model to survey the impact of spatial heterogeneity on biodiversity patterns of an ecosystem in which species compete for limiting resources. The main feature of the model relies on the assumption that species have different requirements for a given resource. Individuals are arranged over a square lattice, where the sites are occupied by at most one individual. Individuals die at a fixed rate. Empty sites may be recolonized by newborn individuals according to a growth rate which depends on the ability of the individuals in the use of resources. We investigate the species–area relationship (SAR), the species abundance distribution and the dependence of species richness on the number of limiting resources and the degree of spatial heterogeneity. Commonly, the changes in the number of species with area is well approximated by a power law. Here, we show that the SAR displays two power law regimes. By assuming that the species’ abilities to consume resources are uneven, we found that the relationship between species richness and the degree of habitat heterogeneity is described by a unimodal function, being in agreement with experimental data. The dependence of the number of species with the number of resources was also investigated. Remarkably, it is the observation of an optimum value for the number of resources that maximizes the biodiversity.

Keywords: Spatial heterogeneity; Resource competition; Computer simulation model; Biodiversity; Ecosystems; Species–area relationship (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378437113007954
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only. Journal offers the option of making the article available online on Science direct for a fee of $3,000

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:393:y:2014:i:c:p:312-319

DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2013.08.045

Access Statistics for this article

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications is currently edited by K. A. Dawson, J. O. Indekeu, H.E. Stanley and C. Tsallis

More articles in Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().