Statistical mechanics of ecological systems: Neutral theory and beyond
Statistical mechanics of ecological systems: Neutral theory and beyond
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DOI：
10.1103/revmodphys.88.035003
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发表时间：
2016-07-26
影响因子：
44.1
通讯作者：
Maritan, Amos
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Azaele, Sandro;Suweis, Samir;Maritan, Amos
最简单的理论往往有许多优点和许多局限性，在这种情况下，生物多样性中性理论（NT）的价值在过去15年中一直是争论的主题。NT是斯蒂芬·哈贝尔在世纪之交提出的，用来解释在生态系统组织中观察到的几种模式。在生态学家中，它产生了两极分化的效果：少数生态学家对此持热情态度，而更多的生态学家则坚决反对。相反，物理学家和数学家兴奋地欢迎这个理论。事实上，NT催生了几项理论研究，试图解释经验数据并预测尚未研究的数量趋势。虽然有一些针对生态学家的NT评论，但这里的目标是为有兴趣了解NT是什么，它的成功是什么以及哪些重要问题尚未解决的物理学家回顾NT的定量方面及其扩展。此外，这篇综述也可能引起理论生态学家的兴趣，因为许多潜在的有趣结果都隐藏在大量的NT文献中。建议通过提取它们并以逻辑方式呈现它们来使它们更易于访问。本综述的重点比NT更广泛：研究生态系统的新方法，以及如何引入现实的非中性模型也进行了讨论。
The simplest theories often have much merit and many limitations, and, in this vein, the value of neutral theory (NT) of biodiversity has been the subject of much debate over the past 15 years. NT was proposed at the turn of the century by Stephen Hubbell to explain several patterns observed in the organization of ecosystems. Among ecologists, it had a polarizing effect: There were a few ecologists who were enthusiastic, and there were a larger number who firmly opposed it. Physicists and mathematicians, instead, welcomed the theory with excitement. Indeed, NT spawned several theoretical studies that attempted to explain empirical data and predicted trends of quantities that had not yet been studied. While there are a few reviews of NT oriented toward ecologists, the goal here is to review the quantitative aspects of NT and its extensions for physicists who are interested in learning what NT is, what its successes are, and what important problems remain unresolved. Furthermore, this review could also be of interest to theoretical ecologists because many potentially interesting results are buried in the vast NT literature. It is proposed to make these more accessible by extracting them and presenting them in a logical fashion. The focus of this review is broader than NT: new, more recent approaches for studying ecological systems and how one might introduce realistic non-neutral models are also discussed.