Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Insular biogeography [1] or island biogeography is a field within biogeography that examines the factors that affect the species richness and diversification of isolated natural communities. The theory was originally developed to explain the pattern of the species–area relationship occurring in oceanic islands.
Garganornis ballmanni, a very large fossil goose from the Gargano and Scontrone islands of the Late Miocene. Foster's rule, also known as the island rule or the island effect, is an ecogeographical rule in evolutionary biology stating that members of a species get smaller or bigger depending on the resources available in the environment.
Size comparison of the giant gymnure (moonrat) Deinogalerix from the Late Miocene of Gargano, Italy, with a European hedgehog. Island gigantism, or insular gigantism, is a biological phenomenon in which the size of an animal species isolated on an island increases dramatically in comparison to its mainland relatives.
The Theory of Island Biogeography is a 1967 book by the ecologist Robert MacArthur and the biologist Edward O. Wilson. [1] It is widely regarded as a seminal work in island biogeography and ecology. The Princeton University Press reprinted the book in 2001 as a part of the "Princeton Landmarks in Biology" series. [1]
Island ecology is the study of island organisms and their interactions with each other and the environment. Islands account for nearly 1/6 of earth’s total land area, [1] yet the ecology of island ecosystems is vastly different from that of mainland communities.
Due to a lack of dedicated pollinators on remote islands, insular plants often use small, inconspicuously colored and easily accessible flowers to attract a range of alternative pollinator species. Self-pollination is also more commonly used by insular plant species, as pollen does not have to travel so far to reach a receptive ovule or stigma.
The field of insular biogeography studies the ecological processes that take place on islands, with a focus on what factors effect the evolution, extinction, and richness of species. Scientists often study islands as an isolated model of how the process of natural selection takes place.
Testing the assembly rules is a complex process that often uses computer simulations to compare experimental data with characteristics of random assemblages of species.