The Effect of Spatial and Environmental Drivers on Patterns in Species Richness and Composition
type: CreativeWork
description: This thesis includes eight manuscripts with methodological, empirical and theoretical contributions that aim to enhance the understanding of species richness and composition patterns and their underlying drivers. Islands and isolated systems are in the focus of this work. Islands provide optimal conditions to study biogeographic patterns. Theoretical advances in ecology have been initiated by island biogeography. Theory on island biogeography has particularly been improved by a better representation of time related components including speciation and environmental change. Oceanic islands are not stable systems but follow a characteristic ontogeny. After the volcanic emergence over the sea surface, erosion processes, shaping the island first more heterogeneous and then flatter, transform islands. This thesis shows how particular characteristics of the classic theory of island biogeography can be included in the currently most advanced theoretical framework. While MacArthur & Wilson (1963) particulary focussed on processes (colonisation and extinction) for generating species richness patterns, current theory assumes a defined upper limit for species richness (“carrying capacity”). By reinforcing the importance of processes in the current theory, as suggested in this thesis, it is much simpler to formulate hypothesis that can be tested by empirical data. Carrying capacity is linked to “habitat heterogeneity”, both, in the meaning of topographic variability as well as the number of vegetation units that are present in a given area. This thesis demonstrates that a clear terminology is a prerequisite for a profound understanding of the effects of “heterogeneity” on species diversity patterns in general and the underlying biogeographic processes in particular. The heterogeneity of surfaces influences species diversity not only on scales larger than kilometres but also is important on very fine scales of meters and smaller. Novel methods to measure different aspects of surf…
abstract: This thesis includes eight manuscripts with methodological, empirical and theoretical contributions that aim to enhance the understanding of species richness and composition patterns and their underlying drivers. Islands and isolated systems are in the focus of this work. Islands provide optimal conditions to study biogeographic patterns. Theoretical advances in ecology have been initiated by island biogeography. Theory on island biogeography has particularly been improved by a better representation of time related components including speciation and environmental change. Oceanic islands are not stable systems but follow a characteristic ontogeny. After the volcanic emergence over the sea surface, erosion processes, shaping the island first more heterogeneous and then flatter, transform islands. This thesis shows how particular characteristics of the classic theory of island biogeography can be included in the currently most advanced theoretical framework. While MacArthur & Wilson (1963) particulary focussed on processes (colonisation and extinction) for generating species richness patterns, current theory assumes a defined upper limit for species richness (“carrying capacity”). By reinforcing the importance of processes in the current theory, as suggested in this thesis, it is much simpler to formulate hypothesis that can be tested by empirical data. Carrying capacity is linked to “habitat heterogeneity”, both, in the meaning of topographic variability as well as the number of vegetation units that are present in a given area. This thesis demonstrates that a clear terminology is a prerequisite for a profound understanding of the effects of “heterogeneity” on species diversity patterns in general and the underlying biogeographic processes in particular. The heterogeneity of surfaces influences species diversity not only on scales larger than kilometres but also is important on very fine scales of meters and smaller. Novel methods to measure different aspects of surf…
author: Steinbauer, Manuel
date published: 2013-09-24
date modified: 2026-07-27T18:49:02Z
provider: Universität Bayreuth
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Universität Bayreuth