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Species diversity preserved in different numbers of nature reserves of the same total area
Author(s) -
Kobayashi Shiro
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
population ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.819
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1438-390X
pISSN - 1438-3896
DOI - 10.1007/bf02515486
Subject(s) - nature reserve , extinction (optical mineralogy) , spatial distribution , ecology , biology , global biodiversity , species diversity , diversity (politics) , rare species , distribution (mathematics) , biodiversity , statistics , habitat , mathematics , paleontology , mathematical analysis , sociology , anthropology
Conclusion and Summary The expected number of species occurring in different numbers of reserves of the same total area is examined on different assumptions of the spatial distribution and the probability of extinction. The advantage of one large reserve or several smaller ones of equal total area depends on the spatial distributions of species and the stage after the establishement of reserves. In general, several smaller reserves maintain more species immediately after the establishments unless the spatial distribution are uniform or random, whereas one large reserve excels several smaller ones after some rare species have gone extinct unless the spatial distributions are strongly contagious. Since the extinction of rare species must be facilitated as the size of each reserve reduces, the area of a reserve should be larger than the critical area that ensures the persistence of the species. Hence it is concluded that one or a few large reserves are a better strategy in order to maintain the species diversity.