On the statistical machinery of alien species

TL;DR

This paper introduces a simple statistical model using a broken stick algorithm to explain the distribution patterns of alien plant species across regions, linking ecological niche dynamics with statistical mechanics.

Contribution

It presents a novel, minimalistic algorithm that reproduces complex distribution patterns of alien species based on a single parameter, offering a new perspective on ecological niche fluctuations.

Findings

The model accurately reproduces observed distribution patterns of alien species.

Niche structures fluctuate with time and productivity, affecting species distribution.

The approach applies statistical mechanics to ecology in a new way.

Abstract

Many species of plants are found in regions to which they are alien and their global distribution has been found to exhibit several remarkable patterns,characterised by exponential functions of the kind that could arise through versions of MacArthur's broken stick. We show here that these various patterns are all quantitatively reproduced by a simple algorithm, in terms of a single parameter- a single stick to be broken. This algorithm admits a biological interpretation in terms of niche structures fluctuating with time and productivity; with sites and species highly idiosyncratic. Technically, this is an application of statistical mechanics to ecology quite different from the familiar application to species abundance distributions.