Table 2.

The different speciation modes that have been incorporated into neutral models

Speciation Mode	Synopsis	References
Point mutation	Speciation whereby each individual in the metacommunity has an equal probability of producing an offspring of a new species. Produces many rare species with lifetimes unrealistically short	Hubbell (2001)
Random fission	Speciation occurs through a population randomly dividing into two distinct species. Produces species with lifetimes unrealistically long	Hubbell and Lake (2003), Hubbell (2005), Etienne and Haegeman (2011)
Peripheral isolate	Divergence follows the isolation of populations. Newly arisen species have abundances drawn from a normal distribution	Hubbell and Lake (2003), Hubbell (2005)
Generalized speciation	A generalized neutral community model incorporating numerous modes	Haegeman and Etienne (2009)
Protracted speciation	Speciation is a gradual, drawn out process. Results in a new predicted metacommunity SAD (termed the “difference logseries”)	Rosindell et al. (2010)