Question 2 Based on island biogeographys speciesarea theory

Question 2 Based on island biogeography\'s species-area theory (and given a c value of 0.5 andaz value from Q1b), how many species would you predict present on an island with area... a 50 m b) 100 m c 150 m d) 200 m

Solution

According to Frank Preston, specie abundance distribution is determined using the equation

S=cA^z

where S is the number of species

A is the area of the habitat

c is a constant that depends on the area measurement units

z is the slope of the species - area relationship in log-log space

a. For 50 m² area, the number of species is

S = 0.5 x 50^0.15

= 0.5 x 1.798 = 0.899

b. For 100 m² area, the number of species is

S = 0.5 x 100^0.15

= 0.5 x 1.995 = 0.9975

c. For 150 m² area, the number of species is

S= 0.5 x 150^0.15

= 0.5 x 2.12 = 1.06

d. For 200 m² area, the number of species is

S = 0.5 x 200^0.15

0.5 x 2.21 = 1.105