Neutral Theory of Biodiversity: 2D Ecological Drift Lattice

This simulation renders a 2D lattice community of individuals — every pixel ecologically identical regardless of species — undergoing Hubbell's zero-sum birth-death-speciation process. Each step a random individual dies and is replaced either by a copy of a neighbor (dispersal) or, with a tunable speciation probability, by a brand-new species. Pan and zoom the lattice to inspect spatial clustering, watch species-neutral ecological drift alone generate the classic hollow-curve species-abundance distribution on the live log-log chart, track species richness, Shannon diversity and the predicted fundamental biodiversity number θ as generations elapse, switch between local and global dispersal to see spatial patches appear and disappear, and trigger a mass disturbance to watch the community recover.