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12 years ago
What are the basic concepts of the equilibrium theory of island biogeography? How do they apply to terrestrial ecosystems? 
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12 years ago
This theory was initially applied to oceanic islands to explain how species come to be distributed among them. Since then, researchers have increasingly applied the theory's tenets to other types of islands, including islands of habitat?patches of one type of habitat isolated within vast "seas" of others. Several patterns are apparent from the theory of island biogeography and the real-life study of species on islands. One is that the number of species increases with the size of the island. Larger islands possess more species in part because more space allows for larger populations, and larger populations are less vulnerable to extirpation and thus have longer expected species survival times. Larger islands also present fatter targets for organisms to encounter if they are wandering lost. Finally, larger islands also may possess more habitats than smaller islands. The distance between an island and the nearest continent also affects the number of species on the island; closer islands are more likely to have more species. These patterns hold up for terrestrial habitat islands, such as forests fragmented by logging and road building and for nature preserves, which are often surrounded by agricultural or urban systems. Small islands of forest lose their diversity fastest, starting with those large species that were few in number to begin with. In a landscape of fragmented habitat, species requiring the habitat will gradually disappear from the landscape, winking out from one island after another over time. 
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