Relevance of the Equilibrium Theory of Island Biogeography and Species-Area Relations to Conservation with a Case from Amazonia

1986 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 133 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. L. Zimmerman ◽  
R. O. Bierregaard
Keyword(s):  
Island Biogeography ◽  
Equilibrium Theory ◽  
Theory Of Island Biogeography ◽  
Species Area

Independent Discovery of the Equilibrium Theory of Island Biogeography

Ecology ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 70 (6) ◽  
pp. 1954-1957 ◽  
Author(s):  
James H. Brown ◽  
Mark V. Lomolino
Keyword(s):  
Island Biogeography ◽  
Equilibrium Theory ◽  
Theory Of Island Biogeography

scholarly journals Maintenance of biodiversity on islands

2016 ◽  
Vol 283 (1829) ◽  
pp. 20160102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan A. Chisholm ◽  
Tak Fung ◽  
Deepthi Chimalakonda ◽  
James P. O'Dwyer
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Island Biogeography ◽  
Mechanistic Model ◽  
Neutral Theory ◽  
Small Island ◽  
Small Islands ◽  
Island Area ◽  
Island Species ◽  
Theory Of Island Biogeography ◽  
Species Area

MacArthur and Wilson's theory of island biogeography predicts that island species richness should increase with island area. This prediction generally holds among large islands, but among small islands species richness often varies independently of island area, producing the so-called ‘small-island effect’ and an overall biphasic species–area relationship (SAR). Here, we develop a unified theory that explains the biphasic island SAR. Our theory's key postulate is that as island area increases, the total number of immigrants increases faster than niche diversity. A parsimonious mechanistic model approximating these processes reproduces a biphasic SAR and provides excellent fits to 100 archipelago datasets. In the light of our theory, the biphasic island SAR can be interpreted as arising from a transition from a niche-structured regime on small islands to a colonization–extinction balance regime on large islands. The first regime is characteristic of classic deterministic niche theories; the second regime is characteristic of stochastic theories including the theory of island biogeography and neutral theory. The data furthermore confirm our theory's key prediction that the transition between the two SAR regimes should occur at smaller areas, where immigration is stronger (i.e. for taxa that are better dispersers and for archipelagos that are less isolated).

scholarly journals Can altitudinal diversity gradients be explained by a reduction in area with altitude?

2002 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 211
Author(s):  
Cath Kingston
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Surface Area ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Island Biogeography ◽  
Equilibrium Theory ◽  
Diversity Gradients ◽  
Theory Of Island Biogeography ◽  
Reduction In Area

Species richness at higher altitudes of a region typically decreases with altitude, the usual explanation being that environmental conditions become harsher as altitude increases. On conical or ridge shaped mountains the surface area available within equally spaced altitude bands declines as altitude increases. It has been suggested (Ogden 1995) that this may be responsible for the decrease in species richness. The phenomenon of decreasing species richness with altitude has been further interpreted by Ogden as lending support to the equilibrium theory of island biogeography (MacArthur and Wilson 1967) which predicts that larger areas will contain more species. The hypothesis that a decrease in area is responsible for the decline in diversity with altitude is here considered critically, and the evidence presented in support of it is found to be lacking.

Boreal ground-beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) assemblages of the mainland and islands in Lac la Ronge, Saskatchewan, Canada

2017 ◽  
Vol 149 (4) ◽  
pp. 491-503 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron J. Bell ◽  
Iain D. Phillips ◽  
Scott E. Nielsen ◽  
John R. Spence
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Island Biogeography ◽  
Passive Sampling ◽  
Unit Area ◽  
Ground Beetle ◽  
Small Islands ◽  
Island Size ◽  
Extinction Rates ◽  
Theory Of Island Biogeography ◽  
Species Area

AbstractWe tested the applicability of the “passive sampling” hypothesis and theory of island biogeography (TIB) for explaining the diversity of forest-dwelling carabid assemblages (Carabidae: Coleoptera) on 30 forested islands (0.2–980.7 ha) in Lac la Ronge and the adjacent mainland in Saskatchewan, Canada. Species richness per unit area increased with distance to mainland with diversity being highest on the most isolated islands. We detected neither a positive species-area relationship, nor significant differences in species richness among island size classes, or between islands and the mainland. Nonetheless, carabid assemblages distinctly differed on islands <1 ha in area and gradually approached the structure of mainland assemblages as island area increased. Small islands were characterised by abundant populations of small-bodied, winged species and few if any large-bodied, flightless species like Carabus taedatus Fabricius. Our findings suggest that neither the “passive sampling” hypothesis nor the theory of island biogeography adequately explain carabid beetle diversity patterns observed among islands in Lac la Ronge. Instead, we hypothesise that population processes such as higher extinction rates of large-bodied, flightless species and the associated release of smaller-bodied, flying species from intra-guild predation on small islands contribute to observed differences in the structure of carabid assemblages between islands.

The theory of island biogeography and soundscapes: Species diversity and the organization of acoustic communities

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (9) ◽  
pp. 1901-1911
Author(s):  
Aloïs Robert ◽  
Thierry Lengagne ◽  
Martim Melo ◽  
Vanessa Gardette ◽  
Sacha Julien ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Diversity ◽  
Island Biogeography ◽  
Theory Of Island Biogeography
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