Analysing disturbance with the Ewens/ Caswell neutral model: theoretical review and practical assessment

Abstract

The neutral model proposed by Caswell (1976) is discussed and a justification provided for its use in the analysis of ecological disturbance, both physical and biological. Although the Ewens/ Caswell neutral model is a powerful analytical tool, in practice it presents serious computational problems which cannot effectively be overcome by subsampling. But attempts to duplicate the effect of the model with simpler equitability methods were unsuccessful.