Question:

Species area relationship curve had been proposed by

Updated On: Jun 7, 2022
  • David Tilman
  • Edward Wilson
  • Paul Ehlrich
  • Von Humboldt.
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The Correct Option is D

Solution and Explanation

German naturalist and geographer Alexander von Humboldt while exploring the wilderness of South American jungles found that within a region the species richness increased with increasing area but upto a certain limit. On this basis, he proposed species area relationship curve. The relationship between species richness and area turned out to be rectangular hyperbola for a wide variety of taxa whether they are birds, bats, freshwater fish or flowering plants. On a logarithmic scale, it is a straight line. log S = log C + Z log A Here S is species richness, Z is slope of line or regression coefficient, C is Y intercept and A is area.
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Concepts Used:

Patterns of Biodiversity

Ecologists discovered two broad kinds of diversity patterns, namely:

  • Latitudinal gradient – This is the most well-defined and well-known pattern of biodiversity studies till date. According to this pattern, the species diversity follows a regular pattern as we move from the equator to the polar regions. The plant and animal diversity are observed to be maximum at the equator and it decreases as we move towards the poles. 
  • Species-Area relationships – The great German geographer and naturalist, Alexander von Humboldt observed the relation between an area and the species richness found in it. He found that as he increased the area of observation, the plant and animal diversity increased but up to a certain level.