On the origin and robustness of power-law species-area relationships in ecology.

ABSTRACT: We present an explanation for the widely reported power-law species-area relationship (SAR), which relates the area occupied by a biome to the number of species that it supports. We argue that power-law SARs are a robust consequence of a skewed species abundance distribution resembling a lognormal with higher rarity, together with the observation that individuals of a given species tend to cluster. We show that the precise form of the SAR transcends the specific details of organism interactions, enabling us to characterize its broad trends across taxa.

SUBMITTER: Garcia Martin H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1502454 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature