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This puts endemic plants and animals at greater risk than widespread species during the rapid climate change of this century. [38] [39] Some scientists claim that the presence of endemic species in an area is a good method to find geographical regions that can be considered priorities for conservation.
A few endemic species are Arctic-Alpine species, survivors of Arctic species of plants and animals which either adapted to the warming climate or became isolated in suitable areas of mountains or lakes which still retained a suitable micro-climate. A common misconception is that the entirety of the British Isles was under glaciers and was ...
Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time.Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, isolation and habitat area. [1]
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 ...
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.
Evolution occurs continuously both in time and space, so that ecotypes or forms may qualify as distinct species in a few generations. [22] Begon, Townsend, and Harper use an illuminating analogy on this: ... the origin of a species, whether allopatric or sympatric, is a process, not an event. For the formation of a new species, like the boiling ...
Islands as harbors for endemic species are explained by the theory of island biogeography. [6] However, in order to be considered a paleoendemic on an island, the species must have had a widespread distribution previously, [1] thus eliminating newly formed islands as potential refuges of paleo-endemics.
In ecology, species homogeneity is a lack of biodiversity. Species richness is the fundamental unit in which to assess the homogeneity of an environment. Therefore, any reduction in species richness , especially endemic species , could be argued as advocating the production of a homogeneous environment.