Supplementary Figure 8

Comparing statistical dynamics for different ecospace framework structures: varying number of "seed" species chosen at random at start of simulation, (A) 3 species, (B) 5 species, and (C) 10 species. Each framework had 15 mixed character types, such that part B is identical to Supplementary Figure 6B. Trends are only plotted starting at 5 species for comparative purposes, which explains idiosyncratic behaviors at low sample sizes (i.e., missing trend lines in part A and overlapping models in part C). Other simulation details and graphical interpretation are the same as is Supplementary Figure 6. Note that the functional-diversity statistics could not be calculated for the redundancy model in part A because their calculation requires a minimum of four unique life habits; however, all statistics (except V) were included as potential predictor variables in the classification tree algorithm. Dynamics are generally similar across models, but simulations with fewer seed species provide the most powerful model selection using classification-tree methods (85% of models classified correctly for both 3-seed and 5-seed simulations). Starting with larger numbers of seed species impedes enacting distinct model rules, and results in 75% of models classified correctly. See Supplementary Appendix 2 for additional details.