Coral reef diversity refutes the neutral theory of biodiversity

Maria Dornelas (), Sean R. Connolly and Terence P. Hughes
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Maria Dornelas: ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
Sean R. Connolly: ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
Terence P. Hughes: ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies

Nature, 2006, vol. 440, issue 7080, 80-82

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.

Date: 2006
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DOI: 10.1038/nature04534

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