Island Biogeography Review

What is island biogeography, in your own words please.

Answer explanation

The theory of island biogeography explains that the biodiversity and number of species inhabiting an island is impacted by the island's land size and degree of isolation. Larger, less isolated islands have higher numbers of species, while smaller, more isolated islands have lower numbers of species.

Larger space = (a)   population size.

There is a _______ relationship between island ______ and species ________.

• negative, richness, size

• neutral, size, richness

• positive, size, richness

• positive, richness, size

What is adaptive radiation? Can you provide an example?

Answer explanation

Adaptive radiation is an evolutionary process where a single ancestral species rapidly diversifies into many new species, each adapted to exploit a different ecological niche, often occurring when a new environment opens up with available resources or reduced competition; a classic example is the evolution of Darwin's finches on the Galapagos Islands, where different species developed unique beak shapes to eat different types of food depending on the available food sources on each island.