Neutral theory and plankton biodiversity
In: Annual Review of Marine Science. Annual Reviews: Palo Alto, Calif. ISSN 1941-1405; e-ISSN 1941-0611, more
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neutral theory, competitive exclusion, trophic exclusion, phytoplankton biodiversity, community structuring, niches |
| Authors | | Top |
- Behrenfeld, M.J.
- Bisson, K.M.
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| Abstract |
The biodiversity of the plankton has been interpreted largely through the monocle of competition. The spatial distancing of phytoplankton in nature is so large that cell boundary layers rarely overlap, undermining opportunities for resource-based competitive exclusion. Neutral theory accounts for biodiversity patterns based purely on random birth, death, immigration, and speciation events and has commonly served as a null hypothesis in terrestrial ecology but has received comparatively little attention in aquatic ecology. This review summarizes basic elements of neutral theory and explores its stand-alone utility for understanding phytoplankton diversity. A theoretical framework is described entailing a very nonneutral trophic exclusion principle melded with the concept of ecologically defined neutral niches. This perspective permits all phytoplankton size classes to coexist at any limiting resource level, predicts greater diversity than anticipated from readily identifiable environmental niches but less diversity than expected from pure neutral theory, and functions effectively in populations of distantly spaced individuals. |
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