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THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES DIVERSITY IN ECOLOGICAL COMMUNITIES
Author(s) -
Ross Herbert H.
Publication year - 1972
Publication title -
taxon
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.819
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1996-8175
pISSN - 0040-0262
DOI - 10.2307/1218192
Subject(s) - ecology , biome , biological dispersal , genetic algorithm , species diversity , seral community , global biodiversity , glacial period , biology , geography , biodiversity , ecological succession , ecosystem , paleontology , population , demography , sociology
Summary Species diversity, here defined simply as the total number of species in a community, represents the historic processes by which additional species enter the community and species disappear from it. The additions arise chiefly through speciation by geographic isolation followed by a congregation of the new species formed. The mechanism is by reversible geologic events such as glacial periods, orogenies, and dispersal corridors, the first two affecting organisms as reversible climatic changes. These events cause speciation on a grand scale, acting simultaneously on species in all seral stages of the biome. On this basis, the input side of the species diversity of a community is a combined function of (1) the geologic longevity of its ecological conditions and (2) the number of times the community area undergoes geographic disjunctions and reconnections.