10. Species Area Curves & Protection of Nature Flashcards
What are two factors that facilitate the amount of species in an area?
immigration rate AND lower extinction rate
What impacts an immigration rate?
the closeness to other populated areas (for islands specifically), the literal physical ability to immigrate
What impacts an extinction rate?
a lower extinction rate requires more resources and a higher carrying capacity
Where and why does species richness increase?
increases towards the equator (guest lecture #1 says why)
increases with area (there’s more species richness on the mainland than on islands)
What is a species area curve?
area (ex. island) vs. species richness
Why are species area curves important?
really important for the protection of nature
What are the conservation targets from the Convention on Biodiversity?
17% of terrestrial and inland water areas
10% of coastal and marine areas
are protected/preserved/conserved by 2020
What does a log scale species-area curve look like?
the slope is less than 1.0, looks like a straight line
What does an arithmetic species-area curve look like?
the slope is more curved but is still exponential, this curve offers a good visual for analyzing the amount of land that needs to be conserved
If a plot of land is split into two, what percentage of species will be ‘lost’?
the arithmetic curve says more than half of the species can be saved
What is the 10:50 rule of park conservation?
10% of area can protect 50% of species richness
this is the one thing saving us from massive extinctions already, it’s one of the most optimistic graphs when it comes to park planning
How much diversity would be protected by 17% of land and 10% of oceans?
a rough average of 64% and 50%, respectively
