Sources, sinks, and landscapes: Finding a new glove that fits

An early application of source-sink theory was to explain the coexistence of similar species in the same habitat. In classical theory, coexistence was postulated to be based on different species utilizing different resources. Each niche was occupied by a different species and each species had a different niche; hence the analogy to a glove with a pocket for each finger and only one finger per pocket.

In my presentation, I will make the case that most individuals of most species live in sink habitat and most local biodiversity depends more on source sink-dynamics than on resource partitioning.