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Question
Explain, giving three reasons, why tropics show greatest levels of species diversity.
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Solution
The tropics exhibit the greatest levels of species diversity for these reasons:
- High solar energy: As there is more food available in tropical areas, which receive more solar radiation, productivity and biodiversity are higher.
- Stable climate: In the tropics, less seasonal change encourages niche specialisation, which makes it possible for more species to coexist.
- Evolutionary history: As tropical places have not been significantly impacted by glaciation, organisms have had more time to evolve and diversify.
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RELATED QUESTIONS
The following graph shows the species-area relationship. Answer the following questions as directed.
(a) Name the naturalist who studied the kind of relationship shown in the graph. Write the observations made by him.
(b) Write the situations as discovered by the ecologists when the value of ‘Z’
(Slope of the line) lies between:
- 0.1 and 0.2
- 0.6 and 1.2
What does ‘Z’ stand for?
(c) When would the slope of the line ‘b’ become steeper?
Short answer type question
Tropical regions exhibit species richness as compared to polar regions. Justify.
Latitudinal and altitudinal gradient is shown by which of the following habitat(s)?
Maximum species richness is observed in the ______.
All are true regarding graph showing species richness - area relationship, EXCEPT ______.
Select the correct alternative for x and y.
Is it possible that productivity and diversity of a natural community remain constant over a time period of, say one hundred years?
The relation between species richness and area for a wide variety of taxa appears as ______.
Match the scientist in column I with their contribution in column II and choose the correct option.
| Column I | Column II | ||
| i. | Alexander Van Humboldt | a. | Estimated 7 million species round the globe |
| ii. | Robert May | b. | Rivet popper hypothesis |
| iii. | David Tillman | c. | Species Area Relationship |
| iv. | Paul Ehrlich | d. | Productivity stability hypothesis |
What does the variable S represent in the species-area formula log S = log C + Z log A?
