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In many cases, biological factors, such as low rates of dispersal or returning to the spawning area , can cause a particular group of organisms to have high speciation rates and thus many endemic species. For example, cichlids in the East African Rift Lakes have diversified into many more endemic species than the other fish families in the same ...
A megadiverse country is one of a group of nations that harbours the majority of Earth's species and high numbers of endemic species. Conservation International identified 17 megadiverse countries in 1998, [1] [2] all of which are located at least partially in tropical or subtropical regions. Megadiversity means exhibiting great biodiversity.
The extreme opposite of a cosmopolitan species is an endemic (native) species, or one that is found only in a single geographical location. Endemism usually results in organisms with specific adaptations to one particular climate or region, and the species would likely face challenges if placed in a different environment.
An example of the effects of abiotic factors on species distribution can be seen in drier areas, where most individuals of a species will gather around water sources, forming a clumped distribution. Researchers from the Arctic Ocean Diversity (ARCOD) project have documented rising numbers of warm-water crustaceans in the seas around Norway's ...
In 2015, a newly formed and endemic species of monkeyflower (Erythranthe peregrina) was identified in Scotland and the Scottish islands. [8] Bromus interruptus is an endemic to England, which was extinct in the wild but has been reintroduced from saved seed. [7] [12] The total number of endemic plant species has now grown to 52.
For example, 50% of endemic bird areas are found on islands. [2] Endemism is often the result of adaptive radiation. [1] Adaptive radiation is when a single species colonizes an area and rapidly diversifies to fill all of the available niches. A common example is the assemblage of finch species documented by Charles Darwin in the Galapagos ...
Species can however share a 'mode of life' or 'autecological strategy' which are broader definitions of ecospace. [27] For example, Australian grasslands species, though different from those of the Great Plains grasslands, exhibit similar modes of life. [28] Once a niche is left vacant, other organisms can fill that position.
A notable example is the thylacine of Tasmania, a relict marsupial carnivore that survived into modern times on an island, whereas the rest of its species on mainland Australia had gone extinct between 3000 and 2000 years ago. [3]