Question

Amazonian rain forest has the greatest biodiversity on earth. List any two hypothesis that are proposed by the biologists to account for the greater biological diversity.

Answer 1

The hypothesis are:

1. Speciation is generally a function of time; unlike temperate regions which are subjected to frequent glaciations in the past, tropical latitudes have remained undisturbed for millions of years and hence had a long time for species diversification.

2. Tropical environments are less seasonal, relatively more constant and predictable; such constant environments promote niche specialization and lead to a greater species diversity.

3. There is more solar energy available in the tropics, which contributes to higher productivity; this in turn might contribute indirectly to species diversity.