Work

Mechanisms promoting biodiversity in ecosystems

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: Explaining biodiversity is the central focus in theoretical ecology. A significant obstacle arises from the competitive exclusion principle (CEP), which states that two species competing for the same type of resources cannot coexist at constant population densities, or more generally, the number of consumer species cannot exceed that of resource species at steady states. The conflict between CEP and biodiversity is exemplified by the paradox of the plankton, where a few types of limiting resources support a plethora of plankton species. In this review, we introduce mechanisms proposed over the years for promoting biodiversity in ecosystems, with a special focus on those that alleviate the constraints imposed by the CEP, including mechanisms that challenge the CEP in well-mixed systems at a steady state or those that circumvent its limitations through contextual differences.

Source: Quantitative Biology

DOI: 10.1002/qub2.77

Authors: Ju Kang, Yiyuan Niu, Xin Wang

Institution: Sun Yat-sen University

Language: English

Topic: Mathematical and Theoretical Epidemiology and Ecology Models

Subfield: Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Life on land

Open Access status: diamond

Funders: National Natural Science Foundation of China, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau