Beta diversity, distance decay, and the scale dependence of species richness patterns

Presenting person: Prof. Dr. Peter White, University of North Carolina, Chapell Hill
Th. 2005-12-01 (10:15), H8

One of the challenges to understanding the correlates and causes of diversity is scale dependence: the curvilinear relationship between the number of species observed and the scale of the observations. Scale has two components: grain (the unit resolution of the observations) and extent (the distance over which observations are made). We will examine patterns of inventory (alpha) diversity and differentiation (beta) diversity from the grain and extent perspective, with special emphasis the debate between contemporary environment vs. historic and regional effects on diversity patterns in north temperate forested landscapes in eastern North America and eastern Asia.

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