Theory 49/Tropical Rainforest/Tree diversity
Diversity Balances Niche and Drift
The claim
Tropical tree diversity is set by the ratio of niche differentiation to neutral drift, so a forest with weak niches can still be diverse if drift is strong enough to delay competitive exclusion.
01Mechanism
Niche differences promote coexistence while drift prevents any one species from dominating quickly; the ratio determines the equilibrium richness.
02Prediction
Richness should track the ratio.
03Refutation
Richness tracking productivity would remove the balance.