Hostname: page-component-5b777bbd6c-pf7kn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-06-21T17:19:16.688Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Patterns of species diversity: fact or artifact?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2016

Richard W. Osman  and
Robert B. Whitlatch
Richard W. Osman
Affiliation:
Marine Science Institute, University of California; Santa Barbara, California 93106. Mailing Address: MRC Research Center, 533 Stevens Avenue, Solana Beach, California 92075
Robert B. Whitlatch
Affiliation:
Marine Research Laboratory, University of Connecticut; Noank, Connecticut 06304
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The pattern observed in nature has often served as a compelling motivation for seeking the underlying processes which are assumed to control the pattern. Spatial and temporal patterns of species diversity are the most commonly observed and described from the study of recent and paleocommunities. These patterns include those found within a local or discrete region such as succession and changes along an environmental gradient and interregional or global patterns such as latitudinal diversity gradients and comparisons of the deep-sea and the continental shelf faunas. Many hypotheses have been advanced to explain these patterns in terms of differences in the biology of species adapted to different or changing environments. However, a more simple explanation is possible: that these patterns do not result from any specific biologic processes.

We examine this possibility and show that succession can result from probabilistic immigration and local extinction of species, diversity gradients can result from probabilistic disturbance in naturally patchy environments, and that latitudinal gradients can be simply a function of the shape of the earth. As long as such diversity patterns can be explained independent of any specific biologic processes, they offer no test of the importance of these processes, either ecologically or evolutionarily.

Type
Research Article
Information
Paleobiology , Volume 4 , Issue 1 , Winter 1978 , pp. 41 - 54
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Literature Cited

Abele, L. G. 1976. Comparative species richness in fluctuating and constant environments: coral-associated decapod crustaceans. Science. 192:461–463.Google Scholar
Allen, J. A. and Sanders, H. L. 1973. Studies on deep-sea protobranchia (Bivalvia); the families Siliculidae and Lametilidae. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. 145:263–310.Google Scholar
Auclair, A. N., and Goff, F. G. 1971. Diversity relations of upland forests in the western Great Lakes area. Am. Nat. 105:499–528.Google Scholar
Caswell, H. 1977. Predator-mediated coexistence: a non-equilibrium model. Am. Nat. In press.Google Scholar
Cody, M. L. 1975. Towards a theory of continental species diversities: bird distributions over Mediterranean habitat gradients. Pp. 214–257. In: Cody, M. L. and Diamond, J. M., eds. Ecology and Evolution of Communities. Belknap Press; Cambridge, Mass.Google Scholar
Clements, F. E. 1916. Plant Succession. 512 pp. Carnegie Inst. Wash. Publ. 242.Google Scholar
Connell, J. H., and Slatyer, R. O. 1977. Mechanisms of succession in natural communities and their role in community stability and organization. Am. Nat. 111:1119–1144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dayton, P. K. and Hessler, R. R. 1972. Role of biological disturbance in maintaining diversity in the deep sea. Deep-Sea Res. 19:199–208.Google Scholar
Eldridge, N. and Gould, S. J. 1972. Punctuated equilibria: an alternative to phyletic gradualism. Pp. 82–115. In: Schopf, T. J. M., ed. Models in Paleobiology. Freeman, Cooper and Co.; San Francisco, Calif.Google Scholar
Fischer, A. G. 1960. Latitudinal variations in organic diversity. Evolution. 14:64–81.Google Scholar
Glenn-Lewin, D. C. 1977. Species diversity in North American temperate forests. Vegatatio. 33:153–162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodman, D. 1975. The theory of diversity-stability relationships in ecology. Q. Rev. Biol. 50:237–266.Google Scholar
Gould, S. J. 1976. Paleontology plus ecology as paleobiology. Pp. 218–236. In: May, R. M., ed. Theoretical Ecology: Principles and Applications. W. B. Saunders; Philadephia, Pa.Google Scholar
Gould, S. P., Raup, D. M., Sepkoski, J. J. Jr., Schopf, T. J. M., and Simberloff, D. S. 1977. The shape of evolution: a comparison of real and random clades. Paleobiology. 3:23–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grassle, J. F. 1977. Slow recolonization of deep sea sediment. Nature. 265:618–619.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grassle, J. F. and Sanders, H. L. 1973. Life histories and the role of disturbance. Deep-Sea Res. 20:643–659.Google Scholar
Grime, J. P. 1973. Control of species diversity in herbaceous vegetation. J. Environ. Manage. 1:151–167.Google Scholar
Hessler, R. R., Isaacs, J. D., and Mills, E. L. 1972. Giant amphipod from the abyssal Pacific Ocean. Science. 175:636–637.Google Scholar
Horn, H. S. 1974. The ecology of secondary succession. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 5:25–37.Google Scholar
Horn, H. S. 1975. Markovian processes of forest succession. Pp. 196–211. In: Cody, M. L., and Diamond, J. M., eds. Ecology and Evolution of Communities. Belknap Press; Cambridge, Mass.Google Scholar
Horn, H. S. 1976. Succession. Pp. 187–204. In: May, R. M., ed. Theoretical Ecology: Principles and Applications. W. B. Saunders; Philadelphia, Pa.Google Scholar
Horn, H. S. and MacArthur, R. H. 1972. Competition among fugitive species in a harlequin environment. Ecology. 53:749–752.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huffaker, C. B. 1958. Experimental studies on predation: dispersion factors and predator-prey oscillations. Hilgardia. 27:343–383.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jannasch, H. W., Eimhjellen, K., Wirsen, C. O., and Farmanfarmaian, A. 1971. Microbial degradation of organic matter in the deep sea. Science. 171:692–695.Google Scholar
Jannasch, H. W. and Wirsen, C. O. 1973. Deep-sea microorganisms: in situ response to nutrient enrichment. Science. 180:641–643.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jumars, P. A. 1975. Environmental grain and polychaete species' diversity in a bathyal benthic community. Mar. Biol. 30:253–266.Google Scholar
Karr, J. R. and James, F. C. 1975. Eco-morphological configurations and convergent evolution in species and communities. Pp. 258–291. In: Cody, M. L., and Diamond, J. M., eds. Ecology and Evolution of Communities. Belknap Press; Cambridge, Mass.Google Scholar
Levin, S. A. and Paine, R. T. 1974. Disturbance, patch formation, and community structure. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. (U.S.A.) 71:2744–2747.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Levin, S. A. and Paine, R. T. 1975. The role of disturbance in models of community structure. Pp. 56–67. In: Levin, S. A., ed. Ecosystem Analysis and Prediction. Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics; Philadelphia, Pa.Google Scholar
Loucks, O. L. 1970. Evolution of diversity, efficiency, and community stability. Am. Zool. 10:17–25.Google Scholar
Loya, Y. 1976. Recolonization of Red Sea corals affected by natural catastrophes and man-made perturbations. Ecology. 57:278–289.Google Scholar
MacArthur, J. W. 1975. Environmental fluctuations and species diversity. Pp. 74–80. In: Cody, M. L. and Diamond, J. M., eds. Ecology and Evolution of Communities. Belknap Press; Cambridge, Mass.Google Scholar
MacArthur, R. H. and Wilson, E. O. 1963. An equilibrium theory of insular zoogeography. Evolution. 17:373–387.Google Scholar
MacArthur, R. H. and Wilson, E. O. 1967. The Theory of Island Biogeography. 203 pp. Princeton Univ. Press; Princeton, New Jersey.Google Scholar
McIntyre, A., Moore, T. C., Andersen, B., Balsam, W., et al. 1976. The surface of the ice-age earth. Science. 191:1131–1137.Google Scholar
Menge, B. A. and Sutherland, J. P. 1976. Species diversity gradients: synthesis of the roles of predation, competition and temporal heterogeneity. Am. Nat. 110:351–369.Google Scholar
Osman, R. W. 1977. The establishment and development of a marine epifaunal community. Ecol. Monogr. 47:37–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pianka, E. R. 1975. Niche relations of desert lizards. Pp. 292–314. In: Cody, M. L. and Diamond, J. M., eds. Ecology and Evolution of Communities. Belknap Press; Cambridge, Mass.Google Scholar
Pimentel, D., Nagel, W. P., and Madden, J. L. 1963. Space-time structure of the environment and the survival of parasite-host systems. Am. Nat. 97:141–167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sanders, H. L. 1968. Marine benthic diversity: a comparative study. Am. Nat. 102:243–282.Google Scholar
Sanders, H. L. 1969. Benthic marine diversity and the stability-time hypothesis. Pp. 71–81. In: Woodwell, G. M. and Smith, H. H., eds. Diversity and Stability in Ecological Systems. Brookhaven Symp. Biol. No. 22.Google Scholar
Schopf, T. J. M. 1974. Permo-Triassic extinctions: relation to sea-floor spreading. J. Geol. 82:129–143.Google Scholar
Simberloff, D. S. 1974. Permo-Triassic extinctions. Effects of area on biotic equilibrium. J. Geol. 82:267–274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, K. L. Jr. 1974. Oxygen demands of San Diego trough sediments: an in-situ study. Limnol. Oceanogr. 19:939–944.Google Scholar
Smith, K. L. Jr. and Teal, J. M. 1973. Deep-sea benthic community respiration; in-situ study at 1850 meters. Science. 179:282–283.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Southwood, T. R. E. 1976. Bionomic strategies and population parameters. Pp. 26–48. In: May, R. M., ed. Theoretical Ecology: Principles and Applications. W. B. Saunders; Philadephia, Pa.Google Scholar
Stout, J. and Vandermeer, J. 1975. Comparison of species richness for stream-inhabiting insects in tropical and mid-latitude streams. Am. Nat. 109:263–280.Google Scholar
Strong, D. L. Jr., McCoy, E. D., and Rey, J. R. 1977. Time and the number of herbivore species: the pests of sugarcane. Ecology 58:167–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Temple, S. A. 1977. Plant-animal mutualism: co-evolution with dodo leads to near extinction of plant. Science 197:885–886.Google Scholar
Terborgh, J. 1973. On the notion of favorableness in plant ecology. Am. Nat. 107:481–501.Google Scholar
Thiel, H. 1975. The size structure of the deep-sea benthos. Int. Rev. Ges. Hydrobiol. 60:575–606.Google Scholar
Turekian, K. K., Cochran, J. K., Kharkar, D. P., Cerrato, R. M., Vaisnys, J. R., Sanders, H. L., Grassle, J. F., and Allen, J. A. 1975. Slow growth rate of deep-sea clam determined by 228Ra chronology. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. (U.S.A.) 72:2829–2932.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Whitlatch, R. B. 1976. Seasonality, species diversity, and patterns of resource utilization in a marine deposit-feeding community. 127 pp. Ph.D. Dissertation, Univ. Chicago; Chicago, Ill.Google Scholar
Whittaker, R. H. 1972. Evolution and measurement of species diversity. Taxon. 21:213–251.Google Scholar
Wilson, E. O. 1969. The species equilibrium. Pp. 38–47. In: Woodwell, G. M. and Smith, H. H., eds. Diversity and Stability in Ecological Systems. Brookhaven Symp. Biol. No. 22.Google Scholar