Why is island biogeography important

Island biogeography of marine organisms

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References

  1. Fernández-Palacios, J. M. Island biogeography: shaped by sea-level shifts. Nature532, 42–43 (2016)

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    21.3: Island Biogeography

    Video

     

    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. The latter pattern, often called the species-area relationship, has long been a fascination for biogeographers. Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\) demonstrates this species-area relationship for amphibians and reptiles in the West Indies. A study from around 1957 was included in Robert H. MacArthur and Edward O. Wilson's famous book "The Theory of Island Biogeography", and showed that among seven islands studied, the largest, Cuba, had the most species, and the smallest, Redonda, had the fewest. This general pattern has been found in many different islands groups, and across various different taxa.

    Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Species-area relationship for amphibians and reptilians on seven different islands in the West Indies. An original study (Da

    The Theory of Island Biogeography

    1967 book by Robert MacArthur and Edward O. Wilson

    The Theory of Island Biogeography is a 1967 book by the ecologist Robert MacArthur and the biologist Edward O. Wilson.[1] It is widely regarded as a seminal work in island biogeography and ecology. The Princeton University Press reprinted the book in 2001 as a part of the "Princeton Landmarks in Biology" series.[1] The book popularized the theory that insular biota maintain a dynamic equilibrium between immigration and extinction rates. The book also popularized the concepts and terminology of r/K selection theory.[2]

    Background

    The Theory of Island Biogeography has its roots in Wilson's work on the ants of Melanesia. MacArthur synthesized Wilson's ideas about competition, colonization and equilibrium into a simple graphical representation of immigration and extinction curves, from which one can determine the equilibrial species number on an island.[3] MacArthur and Wilson's ideas were first presented in a paper published in 1963,[4&

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