Comment on "Neutral Ecological Theory Reveals Isolation and Rapid Speciation in a Biodiversity Hot Spot"

doi:10.1126/science.1121914

Account Information

Guest Alerts | Access Rights | My Account | Sign In

Technical Comments

Comment on "Neutral Ecological Theory Reveals Isolation and Rapid Speciation in a Biodiversity Hot Spot"

Rampal S. Etienne,¹^* Andrew M. Latimer,² John A. Silander, Jr.,² Richard M. Cowling³

Latimer et al. (Reports, 9 September 2005, p. 1722) used anapproximate likelihood function to estimate parameters of Hubbell'sneutral model of biodiversity. Reanalysis with the exact likelihoodnot only yields different estimates but also shows that twosimilar likelihood maxima for very different parameter combinationscan occur. This reveals a limitation of using species abundancedata to gain insight into speciation and dispersal.

¹ Community and Conservation Ecology Group, University of Groningen, Box 14, 9750 AA Haren, The Netherlands.
² Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, 75 North Eagleville Road, Storrs, CT 06269, USA.
³ Department of Botany, Terrestrial Ecology Research Unit, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Box 77000, Port Elizabeth 6031, South Africa.

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: r.s.etienne{at}rug.nl

Read the Full Text

The editors suggest the following Related Resources on Science sites:

In Science Magazine

REPORTS Neutral Ecological Theory Reveals Isolation and Rapid Speciation in a Biodiversity Hot Spot: Andrew M. Latimer, John A. Silander, Jr., and Richard M. Cowling (9 September 2005)
Science 309 (5741), 1722. [DOI: 10.1126/science.1115576]
| Abstract » | Full Text » | PDF » | Supporting Online Material »