A spatially explicit model for tropical tree diversity patterns

A simple two-parameter model resembling the classical voter model is introduced to describe macroecological properties of tropical tree communities. The parameters of the model characterize the speciation- and global-dispersion rates. Monte Carlo type computer simulations are performed on the model, investigating species abundances and the spatial distribution of individuals and species. Simulation results are critically compared with the experimental data obtained from a tree census on a 50 hectare area of the Barro Colorado Island (BCI), Panama. Fitting to only two observable quantities from the BCI data (total species number and the slope of the log–log species-area curve at the maximal area), it is possible to reproduce the full species-area curve, the relative species abundance distribution, and a more realistic spatial distribution of species.