Endemics and Cosmopolitans: Application of Statistical Mechanics to the Dry Forests of Mexico

Abstract

Data on the seasonally dry tropical forests of Mexico have been examined in the light of statistical mechanics. The results suggest a division into two classes of species. There are drifting populations of a cosmopolitan class capable of existing in most dry forest sites; these have a statistical distribution previously only observed (globally) for populations of alien species. We infer that a high proportion of species found only at a single site are specialists, endemics, and that these prefer sites comparatively low in species richness.

Keywords

• statistical mechanics
• resource partitioning
• distribution of species
• seasonally dry tropical forest
• biotic resistance