Navigation Links
Why do so many species live in tropical forests and coral reefs?
Date:10/30/2007

The latest development in a major debate over a controversial hypothesis of biodiversity and species abundance is the subject of a paper to be published in the 1 November 2007 issue of the journal Nature. The authors report good agreement between the species richness of two of the world's most vulnerable ecosystems -- tropical forests and coral reefs -- and a simple mathematical model building on the so-called "neutral theory of biodiversity." "We're helping to refine and improve this theory because it might have important implications for the effort to protect terrestrial biodiversity from climate change and urban development," says Jayanth Banavar of the Department of Physics at Penn State, a member of the research team.

The Nature paper is based on a counterintuitive assumption of neutral theory: that one can largely ignore interactions between species in modeling patterns of species abundance. The authors are physicists Igor Volkov and Jayanth Banavar of Penn State University, plant biologist Stephen Hubbell of UCLA (formerly of the University of Georgia), and physicist Amos Maritan of the University of Padua in Italy.

Among ecological theorists, neutral theory has sparked a six-year quarrel over the fundamental assumptions of their discipline. The Nature paper counters another scientific team's claim in 2006 that coral-reef diversity "refutes" the neutral theory. At the same time, the paper by Volkov et al., to be published on 1 November 2007, modifies the classical version of neutral theory that appeared in a 2001 book by Hubbell. (Graham Bell of McGill University also developed a neutral theory independently of Hubbell.) Banavar, Maritan, Volkov, and their collaborators have been active in the development of a mathematical framework for understanding ecosystems that builds on and clarifies Hubbell's neutral theory.

"Despite its controversial nature, neutral theory has proved to be a good starting point for understandin
'/>"/>

Contact: Barbara K. Kennedy
science@psu.edu
814-863-4682
Penn State  
Source:Eurekalert

0

GOOD

Page: 1 2 3 4

Related biology news :

1. New species from old data
2. New Clues Add 40,000 Years to Age of Human Species
3. Ants Genetic Engineering Leads To Species Interdependency
4. Same mutation aided evolution in many fish species, Stanford study finds
5. Fibril Shape Is The Basis Of Prion Strains And Cross-species Prion Infection
6. Reservoirs may accelerate the spread of invasive aquatic species, researchers say
7. Small species back-up giant marsupial climate change extinction claim
8. Aggressive aquatic species invading Great Lakes
9. A New Species of Monkey is Discovered in Tanzania: The First in Africa for More Than 20 Years
10. Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld are now species of slime-mold beetles -- but strictly in homage
11. Internet viruses help ecologists control invasive species
Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
Related Image:
Why do so many species live in tropical forests and coral reefs?
Why do so many species live in tropical forests and coral reefs?
(Date:7/25/2008)...ed to translate basic science discoveries into th...dy by researchers at the Medical College of Wiscon...th (NIH) identified reasons why clinical science ...ews than basic science grant applications to the N...of The American Journal of Medicine . , In coll...
(Date:7/25/2008)...ave turned ,green, can potentially contain a natur...d pose a risk to public health according to a revi...CI,s Journal of the Science of Food and Agricultu...ting away the ,green, affected area is enough to e...The paper also suggests that the levels of GA in p...
(Date:7/24/2008)...ide the Arctic Circle, scientists have found black...een before. The cluster of five vents one towerin... as hot as 570 F., Dissolved sulfide minerals th...he deep sea have, over the years, accumulated arou...ve hydrothermal sulfide deposits ever found on the...
(Date:7/24/2008)...f., July 24, 2008 Adult stem cells originate in a...eved, and with proper stimulation they can produce...or injury, a study by UC Irvine scientists has sho... cells in the mammalian brain are the ependymal ce...al cord, rather than cells in the subventricular z...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):New study spotlights National Institutes of Health grant outcomes for clinical research 2Scientists break record by finding northernmost hydrothermal vent field 2Scientists break record by finding northernmost hydrothermal vent field 3Adult stem cells activated in mammalian brain 2Adult stem cells activated in mammalian brain 3MIT 3A Rx for high drug prices 14506 1MIT 3A Rx for high drug prices 14506 2MIT 3A Rx for high drug prices 14506 3Biotechnology needs 21st century patent system 3A Expert 2521 1Biotechnology needs 21st century patent system 3A Expert 2521 2Life Sciences Industry Reaches Crossroad Say Noted Pillsbury Attorneys 4014 1Life Sciences Industry Reaches Crossroad Say Noted Pillsbury Attorneys 4014 2Life Sciences Industry Reaches Crossroad Say Noted Pillsbury Attorneys 4014 3Life Sciences Industry Reaches Crossroad Say Noted Pillsbury Attorneys 4014 4Landmark Pediatric Allergies in America Survey Uncovered Negative Impact of Allergy Symptoms on Children 14496 1Landmark Pediatric Allergies in America Survey Uncovered Negative Impact of Allergy Symptoms on Children 14496 2Landmark Pediatric Allergies in America Survey Uncovered Negative Impact of Allergy Symptoms on Children 14496 3Landmark Pediatric Allergies in America Survey Uncovered Negative Impact of Allergy Symptoms on Children 14496 4Landmark Pediatric Allergies in America Survey Uncovered Negative Impact of Allergy Symptoms on Children 14496 5
...ortant immune system cells has a surprising resemb...e cells receive a "license" that allows them to un... licensing process apparently helps reduce the cha...firepower at the body,s own tissues, according to ...icine in St. Louis. The process is very different ...
...ing volunteers in a study to test a new vaccine th...st the virus. The Vanderbilt trial, led by Kathryn...y 100 individuals 65 years of age and over. It is ...ional Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases...l, conducted at various other medical centers arou...
...have demonstrated that morphine withdrawal complic... immunity and enhancing virus replication. The pap...patitis C virus (HCV) replicon expression, appears...Pathology and is accompanied by a commentary. , ...s drug users, with 70 to 80% of abusers infected i...
...urnal Nature by Dr. Michael Petrides and colleague...McGill University, challenges current thinking tha...hat evolved in the human brain. Dr. Petrides and c...that controls jaw movements in macaque monkeys tha...e human brain critical for speech production. This...
Other Biology News:'License to kill' enables powerful immune attack cells in mice 2'License to kill' enables powerful immune attack cells in mice 3Volunteers sought for avian flu vaccine study 2Hepatitis C complicated by morphine withdrawal 2New research puts a fresh spin on current thinking of speech evolution in humans 2
(Date:7/24/2008)...., July 24 /- Rochester,Med...arterly results after,financial markets close on T...a quarterly conference call to discuss its earning... daylight time (5:00 p.m. eastern time)., This ca...essed at,Rochester Medical,s website at http://ww...
(Date:7/24/2008)...July 24 /- Instrumentation Laboratory...ing supply chain services,company, has awarded the...itical care products and services. Broadlane, base...n 915 acute care hospitals, more than 2,600,sub-ac... practices., The contract covers IL,s portfolio o...
(Date:7/24/2008)...ly 24 /- Hologic, Inc.,(Nas...tion of the tender,offer by its direct wholly-owne...ing shares of Third Wave Technologies, Inc. (Nasda..., The subsequent offering period expired at 12:00...23, 2008. The initial tender offer period expired,...
(Date:7/24/2008)...O, Calif., July 24 /- Ponia...armaceutical company focused,on oncology, today an...cuss,the Company,s second quarter results and prov... clinical development plan for picoplatin, the,Com...., chairman and chief,executive officer, Ronald A....
Breaking Biology Technology:Rochester Medical Announces Third Quarter 2008 Earnings Conference Call July 31, 2008 2Instrumentation Laboratory Announces Contract for Multi-Parameter Testing Products with Broadlane 2Hologic Completes Cash Tender Offer for Third Wave Technologies, Inc. 2Hologic Completes Cash Tender Offer for Third Wave Technologies, Inc. 3Hologic Completes Cash Tender Offer for Third Wave Technologies, Inc. 4Poniard Pharmaceuticals to Host Second Quarter 2008 Financial Results Conference Call on July 31 2
...cal about hockey-stick market adoption curves, jus...ogOn 2005 Social Media Adoption Survey to see that... already has. , ,The survey found that 55% of co...91.4%) and external (96.6%) communications. More t...gs within the last year, and most of these started...
...ly the earnest discussions about a seemingly inali...opics? OK, maybe that overstates the argument a li...le of employees for their blogging activities on w...ne of several that have generated furrowed brow di...e-yet-news bin one recent morning, I found a bit t...
...s research and development funding has exceeded ex...ng to a new report. The state had set a target of ...d 20 th nationally in private R&D spending per ca...u,d be hard-pressed to find an industry to match t...vid Ward, president of NorthStar Economics , an ...
...udents at Chippewa Valley Technical College in Eau...d micro-level surface analysis to firms or organi...y projects. , ,Instructor Hans Mikelson says three...oject completion by December 15, 2005. Mikelson b...electron microscope are the best likely partners. ...
Other Biology Technology:Staggering stats on blog adoption 2Staggering stats on blog adoption 3Social engineering - Coming to an IT ship near you? 2Social engineering - Coming to an IT ship near you? 3New report says Wisconsin R&D spending exceeding expectations 2
...system, 220-240 V, is used for nucleic acid separa...The system includes the modular Sequi-Gen GT elect...cleic acids with single base-pair resolution and i...IPC and bonded inner glass plate, outer glass plat...
...trophoresis System uses revolutionary technology t...(SPE), urine protein electrophoresis and immunofix... and accurate analysis. The system is truly automa... staining to process patient samples. The Paragon ...
The filter 640DF35 for the Molecular Imager FX is a band pass filter for Texas Red dye.
The filter 605DF50 for the Molecular Imager FX is a band pass filter for ethidium bromide, SYPRO Red, SYPRO Ruby, Alexa Fluor 532 and 546, and Cy3 dyes when using the 635 nm laser.
Biology Products: