Reply to Cannon and Lerdau: Maintenance of tropical forest tree diversity

Abstract

We thank Cannon and Lerdau (1) for their interest in our article (2) and for raising several related issues. At the outset, they express doubt that the Janzen–Connell mechanism is “sufficient for the long-term maintenance of diversity.” The statement is made without reference to any feature of our model and can thus be regarded as an expression of opinion. Our results suggest that the Janzen–Connell effect, with otherwise neutral dynamics, can sustain diversity maintenance on evolutionary timescales; our simulations show that Janzen–Connell can permit long-term persistence in communities of up to 1,000 species on modestly sized landscapes, consistent with the most … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: taal.levi{at}oregonstate.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1