Book contents
- The Species–Area Relationship
- Ecology, Biodiversity and Conservation
- The Species–Area Relationship
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Part I Introduction and History
- Part II Diversity–Area Relationships: The Different Types and Underlying Factors
- Part III Theoretical Advances in Species–Area Relationship Research
- 7 Mathematical Expressions for the Species–Area Relationship and the Assumptions behind the Models
- 8 Biodiversity Scaling on a Continuous Plane: Geometric Underpinnings of the Nested Species–Area Relationship
- 9 Species Accumulation Curves and Extreme Value Theory
- 10 The Species–Area Relationship: Idiosyncratic or Produced by ‘Laws Acting around Us’?
- 11 The Species–Area Relationships of Ecological Neutral Theory
- 12 On the Interface of Food Webs and Spatial Ecology: The Trophic Dimension of Species–Area Relationships
- Part IV The Species–Area Relationship in Applied Ecology
- Part V Future Directions in Species–Area Relationship Research
- Index
- References
8 - Biodiversity Scaling on a Continuous Plane: Geometric Underpinnings of the Nested Species–Area Relationship
from Part III - Theoretical Advances in Species–Area Relationship Research
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 March 2021
- The Species–Area Relationship
- Ecology, Biodiversity and Conservation
- The Species–Area Relationship
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Part I Introduction and History
- Part II Diversity–Area Relationships: The Different Types and Underlying Factors
- Part III Theoretical Advances in Species–Area Relationship Research
- 7 Mathematical Expressions for the Species–Area Relationship and the Assumptions behind the Models
- 8 Biodiversity Scaling on a Continuous Plane: Geometric Underpinnings of the Nested Species–Area Relationship
- 9 Species Accumulation Curves and Extreme Value Theory
- 10 The Species–Area Relationship: Idiosyncratic or Produced by ‘Laws Acting around Us’?
- 11 The Species–Area Relationships of Ecological Neutral Theory
- 12 On the Interface of Food Webs and Spatial Ecology: The Trophic Dimension of Species–Area Relationships
- Part IV The Species–Area Relationship in Applied Ecology
- Part V Future Directions in Species–Area Relationship Research
- Index
- References
Summary
The slope and shape of the nested species–area relationship (SAR) can be derived using geometrical considerations. The local slope of the nested SAR is determined by mean species occupancy at a given scale. Thus, any factor that affects the scale dependent occupancy patterns of individual species will affect the overall shape of the nested SAR. Using only geometric considerations, we can derive not only the formula relating mean occupancy to the overall nested SAR slope, but also the overall triphasic shape of the nested SAR. The relatively shallow slope of the nested SAR at intermediate spatial scales, which can be well approximated by a power law, can be attributed to the scale independent (approximately fractal) spatial distribution of individual species. The shape and slope of the nested SAR are linked to beta diversity patterns as well as to the species abundance distribution (SAD), although we argue that the SAD is in fact a derived pattern which cannot be used to construct the nested SAR. In general, geometrical considerations provide a first-order explanation of the nested SAR, while biological factors affect the basic parameters of species distributions and thus act to determine the specific nested SAR in any given case.
Keywords
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Species–Area RelationshipTheory and Application, pp. 185 - 210Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021