Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A variety of objective means exist to empirically measure biodiversity. Each measure relates to a particular use of the data, and is likely to be associated with the variety of genes. Biodiversity is commonly measured in terms of taxonomic richness of a geographic area over a time interval. In order to calculate biodiversity, species evenness ...
The observed species richness is affected not only by the number of individuals but also by the heterogeneity of the sample. If individuals are drawn from different environmental conditions (or different habitats), the species richness of the resulting set can be expected to be higher than if all individuals are drawn from similar environments.
Note: This section provides a general summary of niche apportionment theory, more information can be found under niche apportionment models. Most mechanistic approaches to species abundance distributions use niche-space, i.e. available resources, as the mechanism driving abundances.
In contrast to these "mechanistic" explanations, others assert the need to test whether the pattern is simply the result of a random sampling process. [7] Species–area relationships are often evaluated in conservation science in order to predict extinction rates in the case of habitat loss and habitat fragmentation .
Species richness, or biodiversity, increases from the poles to the tropics for a wide variety of terrestrial and marine organisms, often referred to as the latitudinal diversity gradient. [1] The latitudinal diversity gradient is one of the most widely recognized patterns in ecology. [1] It has been observed to varying degrees in Earth's past. [2]
De Candolle was the first to describe the differences between the small-scale and large-scale distribution patterns of organisms around the globe. [10] Several additional scientists contributed new theories to further develop the concept of biogeography. Charles Lyell developed the Theory of Uniformitarianism after studying fossils.
Forest ecology is the scientific study of the interrelated patterns, processes, flora, fauna, funga, and ecosystems in forests. [1] The management of forests is known as forestry , silviculture , and forest management .
Consequently, some macroecological and community patterns cannot be fully expressed by alpha and beta diversity. Due to these two reasons, a new way of measuring species turnover, coined Zeta diversity (ζ-diversity), [12] has been proposed and used to connect all existing incidence-based biodiversity patterns.