Journal ArticleDOI
Diversity relations in Cape shrublands and other vegetation in the southeastern Cape, South Africa
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In this paper, the authors investigated the diversity relations of Cape shrublands (fynbos and renosterveld), subtropical thicket and Afromontane forest, in the biogeographically complex SE Cape.Abstract:
This paper investigates, and seeks explanations for, the diversity relations of Cape shrublands (fynbos and renosterveld), subtropical thicket and Afromontane forest, in the biogeographically complex SE Cape. Global comparisons of richness at the 0.1 hectare scale, of communities in the study area and elsewhere in South Africa with analogous vegetation on other continents, were largely inconclusive. Reasons for this are the unexplained variability of richness within vegetation types, problems associated with the scale of diversity used, and difficulties in defining analogous vegetation types. Diversity comparisons within the Cape Region and within the study area communities showed that alpha diversity of fynbos was not consistently higher than other vegetation types. In the study area highest richness was recorded in renosterveld and highest equitability in subtropical thicket; the most species-poor communities were Mountain Fynbos and Afromontane forest. The results of a correlation analysis showed that an index of phytochorological diversity was the factor most strongly correlated with richness in all vegetation types. Soil nutrients did not emerge as significant correlates of diversity except in fynbos where low levels of available nutrients were associated with low values of phytochorological diversity and low species richness. The diversity of fire-prone and grazed communities could be partly explained by non-equilibrium models of species diversity. Ecological and historical hypotheses were presented as explanations for the richness of communities having island-like distributions in the study area. It was generally concluded that historical and ecological factors should be given equal weight in descriptive studies which seek regional and global explanations of the evolution and maintenance of species diversity.read more
Citations
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The Theory of Island Biogeography
TL;DR: Preface to the Princeton Landmarks in Biology Edition vii Preface xi Symbols used xiii 1.
Journal ArticleDOI
Changes in plant community diversity and floristic composition on environmental and geographical gradients
TL;DR: The predictability of the fioristic compositions and diversities of tropical forest plant communities eems strong, albeit circumstantial, evidence that these communities are at ecological and perhaps evolutionary equilibrium, despite indications that certain aspects of their diversity are generated and maintained stochastically.
Book
Fire in Mediterranean Ecosystems: Ecology, Evolution and Management
TL;DR: In this article, the convergence of Mediterranean-type climate ecosystems and fire is discussed. But the authors focus on the management of Mediterranean landscapes, rather than the ecology of Mediterranean type ecosystems.
Journal ArticleDOI
Geographical ecology. Patterns in the distribution of species: By Robert H. MacArthur. Pp. 269. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. 1984. Paperback £13.90 (Original hardback edition Harpes & Row, 1972)
Journal ArticleDOI
Heterogeneity, speciation/extinction history and climate: explaining regional plant diversity patterns in the Cape Floristic Region
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of heterogeneity and speciation/extinction history in explaining variation in regional scale plant diversity in the Cape Floristic Region of southwestern Africa, a species-and endemic-rich biogeographical region was investigated.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
The Theory of Island Biogeography
TL;DR: Preface to the Princeton Landmarks in Biology Edition vii Preface xi Symbols used xiii 1.
Book
The Theory of Island Biogeography
TL;DR: The Princeton Landmarks in Biology Edition vii Preface xi Symbols Used xiii 1. The Importance of Islands 3 2. Area and Number of Speicies 8 3. Further Explanations of the Area-Diversity Pattern 19 4. The Strategy of Colonization 68 5. Invasibility and the Variable Niche 94 6. Stepping Stones and Biotic Exchange 123 7. Evolutionary Changes Following Colonization 145 8. Prospect 181 Glossary 185 References 193 Index 201
Journal ArticleDOI
Diversity in tropical rain forests and coral reefs.
TL;DR: The commonly observed high diversity of trees in tropical rain forests and corals on tropical reefs is a nonequilibrium state which, if not disturbed further, will progress toward a low-diversity equilibrium community as mentioned in this paper.
Journal ArticleDOI
Diversity and Evenness: A Unifying Notation and Its Consequences
TL;DR: Three commonly used measures of diversity, Simpson's index, Shannon's entropy, and the total number of species, are related to Renyi's definition of a generalized entropy, according to which there is a continuum of possible diversity measures.
Journal ArticleDOI
Evidence for the existence of three primary strategies in plants and its relevance to ecological and evolutionary theory
TL;DR: A triangular model based upon the three strategies of evolution in plants may be reconciled with the theory of r- and K-selection, provides an insight into the processes of vegetation succession and dominance, and appears to be capable of extension to fungi and to animals.