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The species-area relationship and evolution

Daniel Lawson·Henrik Jeldtoft Jensen
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Abstract

Models relating to the Species-Area curve are usually defined at the species level, and concerned only with ecological timescales. We examine an individual-based model of co-evolution on a spatial lattice based on the Tangled Nature model, and show that reproduction, mutation and dispersion by diffusion in an interacting system produces power-law Species-Area Relations as observed in ecological measurements at medium scales. We find that co-evolutionary habitats form, allowing high diversity levels in a spatially homogenous system, and these are maintained for exponentially increasing time when increasing system size.

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Daniel Lawson, Henrik Jeldtoft Jensen. 2006-09-10. The species-area relationship and evolution. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtbi.2005.12.018

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