Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Ecology

Return of the niche

Nature volume 454, pages 39–41 (2008)Cite this article

Two ideas vie for prominence in community ecology — 'niche partitioning' and 'neutral theory'. A survey of patterns of tree abundance in tropical forest prompts fresh thinking on their respective effects.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Common ground.

C. K. KELLY

References

  1. Kelly, C. K., Bowler, M. G., Pybus, O. & Harvey, P. H. Ecology 89, 962–970 (2008).

  2. Hutchinson, G. E. Cold Spring Harb. Symp. Quant. Biol. 22, 415–427 (1957).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Chesson, P. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 31, 343–366 (2000).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Bell, G. Am. Nat. 155, 606–617 (2000).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Hubbell, S. P. The Unified Neutral Theory of Biodiversity and Biogeography (Princeton Univ. Press, 2001).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Leibold, M. A. & McPeek, M. A. Ecology 87, 1399–1410 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Adler, P. B., HilleRisLambers, J. & Levine, J. M. Ecol. Lett. 10, 95–104 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Nee, S., Harvey, P. H. & May, R. M. Proc. R. Soc. B 243, 161–163 (1991).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. Sugihara, G. Am. Nat. 116, 770–787 (1980).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Mouquet, N. & Loreau, M. Am. Nat. 162, 544–557 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mathew A. Leibold is in the Section of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA. mleibold@mail.utexas.edu ,

    Mathew A. Leibold

Authors
  1. Mathew A. Leibold
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Leibold, M. Return of the niche. Nature 454, 39–41 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/454039a

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/454039a

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing