Question

What is so special about tropics that might account for their greater biological diversity?

Answer 1

Ecologists and evolutionary biologists have proposed various hypotheses; some important ones are (a) speciation is generally a function of time, unlike temperate regions subjected to frequent glaciations in the past, tropical latitudes have remained relatively undisturbed for millions of years and thus, had a long evolutionary time for species diversification; (b) tropical environments, unlike temperate ones, are less seasonal, relatively more constant and predictable. Such constant environments promote niche specialization and lead to a greater species diversity, and (c) there is more solar energy available in the tropics which contributes to higher productivity; this in turn might contribute indirectly to greater diversity.