Track: Mathematical Modeling/ Heuristics and Meta-heuristics

Abstract

This paper follows upon the Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt)-inspired ecophysical formulations of S. Azaele et al. and A. R. Rominger by constructing a computational model in conjunction with ecosystem recovery assessment models to construct physical hypothesis and computational trajectories of the Barro Colorado Island (BCI) based upon tree species abundance data collected by C. Richard et al. Through the development of quantitative methods for predicting the dynamics of multispecies communities of trees in tropical forests inspired by the BCI study area, a broad array of questions of particular importance to tropical systems—such as those pertaining to mechanisms responsible for large-scale patterns of species abundance and distribution, species coexistence, and the maintenance of vast species diversity—can be addressed, with this paper placing particular emphasis on implications relevant to those surrounding the neutral theory of molecular evolution.