Modelling the species-area relationship using extreme value theory.

ABSTRACT: The nested species-area relationship, obtained by counting species in increasingly larger areas in a nested fashion, exhibits robust and recurring qualitative and quantitative patterns. When plotted in double logarithmic scales it shows three phases: rapid species increase at small areas, slower growth at intermediate scales, and faster rise at large scales. Despite its significance, the theoretical foundations of this pattern remain incompletely understood. Here, we develop a theory for the species-area relationship using extreme value theory, and show that the species-area relationship is a mixture of the distributions of minimum distances to a starting sampling focal point for each individual species. A key insight of our study is that each phase is determined by the geographical distri

SUBMITTER: Borda-de-Agua L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12041200 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature