Species diversity can arise without influence from geographical barriers

Washington, July 18 (ANI): A team of scientists has demonstrated, using a computer model, how diverse species can arise from the arrangement of organisms across an area, without any influence from geographical barriers or even natural selection.

The study, "Global patterns of speciation and diversity," was done by Les Kaufman, Boston University professor of biology and associate director of the BU Marine Program, along with a team of researchers from The New England Complex Systems Institute.

The study noted that over generations, the genetic distance between organisms in different regions increases.

Organisms spontaneously form groups that can no longer mate resulting in a patchwork of species across the area.

Thus, the number of species increases rapidly until it reaches a relatively steady state.

"Our biodiversity results provide additional evidence that species diversity arises without specific physical barriers," according to the study.

The computer simulations showed the distribution of species formed patterns similar to those that have occurred with real organisms all around the world.

"The model we put forward in the paper lays the groundwork for more powerful tests of the role played by natural and sexual selection, as well as habitat complexity in shaping the patterns of biological diversity that we see around us today," said Kaufman.

"Our insights can be applied to the immense challenge that we now face - not only to prevent the extinction of a large chunk of life, but also to prevent ourselves from quenching the very forces that fuel the continuous creation of new life forms on earth," he added.

"One can think about the creation of species on the genetic level in the same way we think about the appearance of many patterns, including traffic jams," said Yaneer Bar-Yam, president of The New England Complex Systems Institute and a senior author of the study.

"While the spatial environment may vary, specific physical barriers aren't necessary. Just as traffic jams can form from the flow of traffic itself without an accident, the formation of many species can occur as generations evolve across the organisms' spatial habitat," he added. (ANI)