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Question
The relation between species richness and area for a wide variety of taxa turns out to be a rectangular hyperbola. Give a brief explanation.
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Solution
The relation between species richness and area
The relationship between species richness and area says that within a region, species richness increases with increasing explored area only up to a certain limit.
Graphical representation of species area relationship
Thus, across a wide variety of taxa such as angiosperms, plants, birds, bats, etc., the relation between species richness and area is represented by a rectangular hyperbola curve. When this graph is plotted in a logarithmic scale, the relationship is expressed as a straight line which is described by the equation:
Log S = Log C + Z Log A
Where, S is species richness
A is available area
Z is slope of the line
C is Y-intercept
The value of Z (slope of the line) lies in the range of 0.1 to 0.2, irrespective of the taxonomic group or the region and slopes are similar for smaller areas.
Slope of the curve for larger areas
- A large area provides more habitats and supports a large number of species. So as the available area increases, the richness of species also increases. After attaining a threshold level, the number of species does not increase as the area.
- For example, when a very large area like the entire continents is considered, the species diversity increases significantly due to increase in availability of resources.
- This results in the value of Z within a range of 0.6 to 1.2 having much steeper slope.
- The Z value for frugivorous (fruit-eating) birds and mammals in the tropical forests of different continents is found to be 1.15.
The relationship between species richness and area says that within a region, species richness increases with increasing explored area only up to a certain limit.
Graphical representation of species area relationship
Thus, across a wide variety of taxa such as angiosperms, plants, birds, bats, etc., the relation between species richness and area is represented by a rectangular hyperbola curve. When this graph is plotted in a logarithmic scale, the relationship is expressed as a straight line which is described by the equation:
Log S = Log C + Z Log A
Where, S is species richness
A is available area
Z is slope of the line
C is Y-intercept
The value of Z (slope of the line) lies in the range of 0.1 to 0.2, irrespective of the taxonomic group or the region and slopes are similar for smaller areas.
Slope of the curve for larger areas
- A large area provides more habitats and supports a large number of species. So as the available area increases, the richness of species also increases. After attaining a threshold level, the number of species does not increase as the area.
- For example, when a very large area like the entire continents is considered, the species diversity increases significantly due to increase in availability of resources.
- This results in the value of Z within a range of 0.6 to 1.2 having much steeper slope.
- The Z value for frugivorous (fruit-eating) birds and mammals in the tropical forests of different continents is found to be 1.15.
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