Island Biogeography Flashcards
Island Biogeography
The study of how species are distributed and interacting on islands.
How does island biogeography affect which species live on islands?
The relationship of land area to species is linear with a similar slope among many groups of plants and animals. Given the difference in number of species, small islands can contain fewer predators than large islands and therefore experience different ecological relationships, including predator-prey reactions.
Species-area curve
A description of how the number of species on an island increases with the area of the island.
What determines the number of species on islands?
The number of species on an island depends on both the area of the island and the distance from the island to a mainland source of species. We ca understand the combined effects of island area and distance on the colonization rates and extinction rates of different islands and predict the summer of species that will be present at equilibrium.
Why are some species on islands particularly vulnerable to invasive species?
Many species that are native to islands have evolved into specialists that can have a narrow diet and have not developed a defense against predators or pathogens. When invasive species are introduced, many of them are generalists that can consume the limited food of the native species or act as predators or pathogens that can decimate the island species.
