The species–area relationship and island biogeography
PAPER V — BIOLOGY · QUESTION 33 OF 33
In plain terms: The free classic that turned the count of species on an island into a prediction.
The question as set
State the species–area relationship, and decide whether island biogeography theory explains it or merely fits it.
The question in Paper V · Its section on the reference page
The question in context
This is question 33 of the 33 set in Paper V — Biology of The Truly Hardest Exam in the World, the examination of The College of All Minds. In the College’s subject index it is filed under Ecology and biogeography. Like every question of the College, it carries three references of record, verified live at publication and described twice — technically, and in plain terms — so the ground can be judged before it is walked. The response required is an argument, not a survey, of at most three thousand words, as technical as the question demands and no more.
The references of record
The Theory of Island Biogeography
The model at source: immigration against extinction, equilibrium species number, and the area and distance effects derived from it.
In plain terms: The free classic that turned the count of species on an island into a prediction.
The theory of island biogeography examined
The test record: the Simberloff–Wilson defaunation experiments, and the standing objection that the curve is fitted rather than explained.
In plain terms: The free teaching review of the evidence for and against the theory — exactly the question’s adjudication.
Ocean Biodiversity Information System
The data against which any species–area exponent must now be estimated, with its sampling biases documented.
In plain terms: The free global species database — where the relationship can be checked rather than recited.
Background: Species–area relationship · Insular biogeography