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Question
What is the significance of the slope of regression in a species-area relationship?
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Solution
The great German naturalist and geographer Alexander Von Humboldt established the relationship between species richness and area after extensive exploration in the forests of South America. According to him, to some extent the species richness of an area increases with the expansion of the exploration area. The relationship between species richness and the area of wide varieties of taxa is a rectangular hyperbola. It represents a straight line on a logarithmic scale. This relationship can be represented by the following equation –
log S = log C + Z log A
where,
S = species richness, A = area,
Z = slope of the line (regression coefficient)
C = Y-intercept
According to ecologists, the value of Z ranges from 0.1 to 0.2. It does not depend on the taxonomic group or region. Surprisingly, the slopes of the regression line are the same. If we analyse the species-area relations of a large group, such as an entire continent, then it is found that the slope of the regression line is steeply slanted. The range of the value of Z is 0.6 to 1.2.
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