Abstract
Recent publications have pitted, on the one hand, the neutral theory of biodiversity – that leaves ample room for demographic processes such as reproduction, mortality, migrations, extinctions and speciation that have major random components – and, on the other hand, the ecological niche theory, more deterministic, that favours relationships with the environment and mechanisms between populations, especially competition. These two ecological theories, the foundations of which we review in Sections 5.1 and 5.2 of this chapter, do not truly include the other levels of biological organisation where, as we have seen, processes of diversification play a role. They are, in fact, complementary if we assume that the same niche can be shared by different species, phylogenetically close or not, and that, simultaneously, demographic processes – the keys to the neutral theory – play a major role. In fact and as is customary in demographic approaches, we introduce environmental constraints by varying the demographic parameters or by observing variations that we can attribute to environmental factors. First, here are some obvious facts.
«… que se él fuera de su consejo al tiempo de la general criación del mundo, i de lo que en él se encierra, i se hallá con el, se huvieran producido i formado algunas cosas mejor que fueran hechas, i otras ni se hicieran, u se emmendaran i corrigieran»
(Alphonse X the Wise man, King of Castile and of Léon, 1221–1284)1
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Notes
- 1.
The original version included by Jim Murray in one of his books (2001); the English translation proposed by Jim Murray is: “If the Lord Almighty had consulted me before embarking on creation, I should have recommended something simpler”. This remarkably curious and cultivated monarch would have voiced this when he was introduced to the Ptolemaic system. This idea seems interesting, especially since this text ensues from the contrary: perhaps this world functions because it is, if not complicated, complex.We can also think that Alphonse X is not alluding to the world, but to Ptolemy’s model, which is not easy to understand, and it is to Nicholas Copernicus’ credit to have drawn up a simpler representation. This historical reference is drawn from Koestler (2004).
- 2.
Pavé et al. (2002).
- 3.
In 1972, John Vandermeer wrote the first paper on the concept, entitled “Niche theory”.
- 4.
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Pavé, A. (2010). Biodiversity and Ecological Theories. In: On the Origins and Dynamics of Biodiversity: the Role of Chance. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6244-7_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6244-7_5
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