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Uncertainty principle in niche assessment: A solution to the dilemma redundancy vs. competitive exclusion, and some analytical consequences

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  • Rodríguez, Ricardo A.
  • Herrera, Ada Ma.
  • Santander, Jacobo
  • Miranda, Jezahel V.
  • Fernández-Rodríguez, María J.
  • Quirós, Ángel
  • Riera, Rodrigo
  • Fernández-Palacios, José Mª.
  • Otto, Rüdiger
  • Escudero, Carlos G.
  • Jiménez-Rodríguez, Antonia
  • Navarro-Cerrillo, Rafael Mª.
  • Perdomo, María E.
  • Delgado, Juan D.

Abstract

There has been a categorically unresolved crucial question in ecology and evolutionary theory for many decades; perhaps from the times of Charles Darwin himself: Is it possible, under natural conditions, that two species can perform a commonly shared ecological niche? There are two extreme conventional responses that have kept divided the scientific community in this regard for almost forty years: (a) No; that is to say, the well-known competitive exclusion principle (CEP). (b) Yes; that is to say, the well-known hypothesis of full functional redundancy (HFR). Obviously, the reliability of both responses depends on an underlying and even more essential requisite: that the ecological niche of a given species can be assessed with such accuracy as we could want in order to detect the degree in which it is shared between coexisting species. This article is the seventh in a continuous series of interconnected recent publications that promotes an alternative understanding of ecology and evolutionary biology which is in favor of strong and mutually fruitful analytical links between biology and physics. This article analyzes the statistical behavior of ecological niches by taking into account two indicators that are essential to perform the ecological niche of all species: species diversity per plot (Hp) and eco-kinetic energy (Ee) as a proxy for trophic energy in a scalar field Hp, Ee in which an oscillating performance of ecological niches is deployed. According to our results, in the same measurement in which the accuracy of Hp assessments increases (reduction of Hp's standard deviation: σHp) the accuracy of Ee assessment decreases (increment of σEe), and vice versa, in agreement with a pattern that is completely equivalent to that of the Heisenberg's uncertainty principle in quantum mechanics (i.e.: σHp⋅σEe≫1/2heec/2π; where heec: ecological equivalent of Planck's constant found in previous publications). As a result, the ecological niche is, even in principle in addition to in practice, indeterminable with enough exactness to arrive to a categorical response to the above-stated question. This means that CEP and HFR are simultaneously true and false in the same measure, because the only feasible option to keep the functional stability of ecosystems is a wave-like combination of both options: when species are pushed to a high degree of coexistence (increase of partition of the gradient) in regard to Hp values (a trend in favor of HFR), their degree of coexistence in regard to Ee values diminishes (decrease of partition of the Ee gradient, a trend in favor of CEP), and vice versa. The final sections of the article highlight the eco-evolutionary, biogeographical and socio-economic meaning of this result, by offering plausible alternative explanations to a wide spectrum of phenomena that appear to be only partially understood so far, e.g.: the contradictory results about the relationship between body size, species diversity and macroevolutionary rates; the general environmental scenario in favor of macroevolutionary leaps with a low probability to leave footprints in the fossil record; the unnecessary, although stimulant, influence of geographic isolation to promote evolutionary changes; the island rule; and the general meaning of the interaction between nature and society.

Suggested Citation

  • Rodríguez, Ricardo A. & Herrera, Ada Ma. & Santander, Jacobo & Miranda, Jezahel V. & Fernández-Rodríguez, María J. & Quirós, Ángel & Riera, Rodrigo & Fernández-Palacios, José Mª. & Otto, Rüdiger & Esc, 2015. "Uncertainty principle in niche assessment: A solution to the dilemma redundancy vs. competitive exclusion, and some analytical consequences," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 316(C), pages 87-110.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:316:y:2015:i:c:p:87-110
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2015.07.032
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    1. Rodríguez, Ricardo A. & Herrera, Ada M. & Riera, Rodrigo & Santander, Jacobo & Miranda, Jezahel V. & Quirós, Ángel & Fernández-Rodríguez, María J. & Fernández-Palacios, José M. & Otto, Rüdiger & Escud, 2015. "Distribution of species diversity values: A link between classical and quantum mechanics in ecology," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 313(C), pages 162-180.
    2. Rodríguez, Ricardo A. & Herrera, Ada M. & Otto, Rüdiger & Delgado, Juan D. & Fernández-Palacios, José M. & Arévalo, José R., 2012. "Ecological state equation," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 224(1), pages 18-24.
    3. Merlin M. Hackbart & Donald A. Anderson, 1975. "On Measuring Economic Diversification," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 51(4), pages 374-378.
    4. Rodríguez, Ricardo A. & Herrera, Ada Mª & Delgado, Juan D. & Otto, Rüdiger & Quirós, Ángel & Santander, Jacobo & Miranda, Jezahel V. & Fernández, María J. & Jiménez-Rodríguez, Antonia & Riera, Rodrigo, 2013. "Biomass-dispersal trade-off and the functional meaning of species diversity," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 261, pages 8-18.
    5. Rodríguez, Ricardo A. & Delgado, Juan D. & Herrera, Ada Ma. & Riera, Rodrigo & Navarro, Rafael Ma. & Melián, Carlos & Dieguez, Lorenzo & Quirós, Ángel, 2013. "Effects of two traits of the ecological state equation on our understanding of species coexistence and ecosystem services," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 265(C), pages 1-13.
    6. Rodríguez, Ricardo A. & Herrera, Ada Ma. & Riera, Rodrigo & Delgado, Juan D. & Quirós, Ángel & Perdomo, María E. & Santander, Jacobo & Miranda, Jezahel V. & Fernández-Rodríguez, María J. & Jiménez-Rod, 2015. "Thermostatistical distribution of a trophic energy proxy with analytical consequences for evolutionary ecology, species coexistence and the maximum entropy formalism," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 296(C), pages 24-35.
    7. Tiezzi, Enzo & Pulselli, Riccardo Maria, 2008. "An entropic approach to living systems," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 216(2), pages 229-231.
    8. Daniel L. Rabosky & Francesco Santini & Jonathan Eastman & Stephen A. Smith & Brian Sidlauskas & Jonathan Chang & Michael E. Alfaro, 2013. "Rates of speciation and morphological evolution are correlated across the largest vertebrate radiation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 4(1), pages 1-8, October.
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    2. Kalmykov, Lev V. & Kalmykov, Vyacheslav L., 2021. "A solution to the dilemma `limiting similarity vs. limiting dissimilarity' by a method of transparent artificial intelligence," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    3. Rodríguez, Ricardo A. & Herrera, Ada Mª & Quirós, Ángel & Fernández-Rodríguez, María J. & Delgado, Juan D. & Jiménez-Rodríguez, Antonia & Fernández-Palacios, José Mª & Otto, Rüdiger & Escudero, Carlos, 2016. "Exploring the spontaneous contribution of Claude E. Shannon to eco-evolutionary theory," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 327(C), pages 57-64.
    4. Riera, Rodrigo & Fath, Brian D. & Herrera, Ada M. & Rodríguez, Ricardo A., 2023. "Concerns regarding the proposal for an ecological equation of state: an assessment starting from the organic biophysics of ecosystems (OBEC)," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 484(C).
    5. Rodríguez, Ricardo A. & Herrera, Ada Ma. & Santander, Jacobo & Miranda, Jezahel V. & Perdomo, María E. & Quirós, Ángel & Riera, Rodrigo & Fath, Brian D., 2016. "From a stationary to a non-stationary ecological state equation: Adding a tool for ecological monitoring," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 320(C), pages 44-51.
    6. Rodríguez, Ricardo A. & Duncan, Janelle M. & Delgado, Juan D. & Vanni, Michael J. & Riera, Rodrigo & Herrera, Ada M. & González, María J., 2017. "Assessment of ecosystem trophodynamic power: A model based on the power equation for an oscillating string," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 362(C), pages 80-86.
    7. Rodríguez, Ricardo A. & Herrera, Ada M. & Duncan, Janelle & Riera, Rodrigo & Quirós, Ángel & Perdomo, María E. & Jiménez-Rodríguez, Antonia & Fernández-Palacios, José María & Vanni, Michael J. & Otto,, 2016. "Response to comments on “Uncertainty principle in niche assessment: A solution to the dilemma redundancy vs. competitive exclusion, and some analytical consequences”," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 341(C), pages 1-4.
    8. Rodríguez, Ricardo A. & Riera, Rodrigo & Herrera, Ada M. & Duncan, Janelle M. & Vanni, Michael J. & Delgado, Juan D. & González, María J., 2019. "Degrees of freedom: Definitions and their minimum and most meaningful combination for the modelling of ecosystem dynamics with the help of physical principles," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 392(C), pages 226-235.

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