Species-Area relationships can be defined as the belief or approach that any number of biological species observed within any area, ecosystem,or region indicates a positive function of that area. These relationships are typically depicted on richness graphs that display the concentrations of species within a certain region across selected parameters. This process can also be applied to almost any taxa as species-area relationships are observed all across the animal kingdom from tiny microbes to blue whales and everything in between. Similarly, regions that are typically assessed in species-area relationships can fall under almost any category including grasslands, oceans, lakes, sewer drainage, artificial habitats, and many others. For a species-area relationship to develop, the region does not need top be a natural scene at all, these complex interactions take place everywhere whether it be a man made or completely in the wilderness. Such relationships are significant to the study of ecology because it allows for ecologists to examine the productivity and positive functioning of any environment and the residents that dwell within it. This can allow researchers to detect sources of disturbance in these ecosystems and alert researchers to any issues or harmful problems in certain cases. This area of study also encompasses evaluating a system’s biodiversity and is an excellent tool in monitoring any region’s biodiversity should some factor disturb it. In many cases, species-area relationships also involve region colonization by species and evolutionary principles as well since many species-area studies focus on isolated region studies such as islands.
Resources
Species-Area Relationships in Stream Fishes