Environment limits species diversity
The new findings support and extend the theory of island biogeography
developed by Robert MacArthur and EO Wilson during the 1960s.
While the idea that factors such as space, food supplies and competition cause species numbers to reach an equilibrium has been around for some time, some recent work has suggested that diversity continues to rise indefinitely. In order to determine which of these competing theories was correct, Daniel Rabosky of the University of California, Berkeley and Richard Glor of the University of Rochester studied patterns of accumulation of lizards over millions of years on the Caribbean islands of Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Hispaniola and Cuba.
Using molecular methods, the pair were able to reconstruct evolutionary trees for the lizard communities on the different islands that showed the relationships among the species. They found that species diversification on the four islands reached a plateau millions of years ago and essentially came to an end.
The results extend the work of MacArthur and Wilson, who developed the theory of island biogeography in order to explain patterns of diversity and richness over ecological timescales, which encompass thousands of years. Rabosky and Glor’s study shows that the same principles hold over millions of years.
February 2011
While the idea that factors such as space, food supplies and competition cause species numbers to reach an equilibrium has been around for some time, some recent work has suggested that diversity continues to rise indefinitely. In order to determine which of these competing theories was correct, Daniel Rabosky of the University of California, Berkeley and Richard Glor of the University of Rochester studied patterns of accumulation of lizards over millions of years on the Caribbean islands of Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Hispaniola and Cuba.
Using molecular methods, the pair were able to reconstruct evolutionary trees for the lizard communities on the different islands that showed the relationships among the species. They found that species diversification on the four islands reached a plateau millions of years ago and essentially came to an end.
The results extend the work of MacArthur and Wilson, who developed the theory of island biogeography in order to explain patterns of diversity and richness over ecological timescales, which encompass thousands of years. Rabosky and Glor’s study shows that the same principles hold over millions of years.
February 2011
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