| Abstract Detail
Ecological Section Hammond, Sean [1], Brown, James H. [2]. Distance-related mortality promotes species diversity in silico. The latitudinal gradient of biodiversity—where the number of species increases from the poles to the equator—is a long recognized and very general feature of life on earth. Janzen and Connell suggested that density- and distance-dependent mortality due to herbivores and pathogens facilitates the coexistence of species in tropical forests. Empirical studies of the Janzen-Connell phenomenon have produced mixed results, and rigorous mechanistic models have been lacking. Using the spatially explicit, individual-based forest simulation Vida, it's possible to quantify the effect of mortality, as a function of proximity to parent trees, on species richness. Simulations generate forests with realistic structure and dynamics, and supports the idea that simple distance-dependent mortality facilitates the persistence of multiple species.
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1 - University Of New Mexico, Biology, MSC03 2020, Albuquerque, NY, 87121-0001, USA
2 - University of New Mexico
Keywords:
diversity
Janzen-Connell
simulation
Individual-based model.
Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Sections
Session: 39
Location: Cottonwoods North/Boise Centre
Date: Wednesday, July 30th, 2014
Time: 2:00 PM
Number: 39003
Abstract ID:840
Candidate for Awards:None |
