The importance of niches for the maintenance of species diversity

Jonathan M. Levine () and Janneke HilleRisLambers ()
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Jonathan M. Levine: Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA
Janneke HilleRisLambers: University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA

Nature, 2009, vol. 461, issue 7261, 254-257

Abstract: Biodiversity: niches work If organisms are involved in a perpetual struggle for existence, how is it that communities are so diverse? The traditional answer is the ecological 'niche' — even at very small scales, environmental differences are enough to allow different species to coexist. Recently, the 'neutral theory' of biodiversity has suggested that this explanation is too complicated, and species are distributed more by chance effects. Jonathan Levine and Janneke HilleRisLambers test these ideas with an intriguing mix of experiment and theory, showing that diversity declines when niches are removed: in this round, at least, traditional explanations have the edge.

Date: 2009
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DOI: 10.1038/nature08251

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