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.
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Answer
The hypothesis are:
- 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.
- Tropical environments are less seasonal, relatively more constant and predictable; such constant environments promote niche specialisation and lead to a greater species diversity.
- There is more solar energy available in the tropics, which contributes to higher productivity; this in turn might contribute indirectly to species diversity.
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