The species-area relationship and evolution

Abstract

Models relating to the Species-Area curve are usually defined at the species level, and concerned only with ecological timescales. We examine an individual-based model of co-evolution on a spatial lattice based on the Tangled Nature model, and show that reproduction, mutation and dispersion by diffusion in an interacting system produces power-law Species-Area Relations as observed in ecological measurements at medium scales. We find that co-evolutionary habitats form, allowing high diversity levels in a spatially homogenous system, and these are maintained for exponentially increasing time when increasing system size.