Abstract: This chapter focuses on ecological determinants of present-day distributions of amphibians and reptiles. It discusses how the history of the Earth's continents has affected amphibian and reptile distributions. Finally, it shows several phylogeography studies to show how the combined use of well-supported phylogenetic hypotheses and geological-fossil data is rapidly improving the understanding of the history of patterns of distribution and diversification in amphibians and reptiles. Most studies of island biogeography reveal a close association between the number of species and island size, if everything else is equal. Distance of islands from mainland habitats also affects number of species. Island biogeography has much wider application because habitats distributed across the Earth are patchy, and each patch can effectively be considered an island. The theory of island biogeography can be applied to ecological questions, particularly in landscape ecology and conservation biology. Ecological biogeography emphasizes the overall structure of communities across space and has resulted in descriptions of biomes, biogeographic realms, and other ecologically based categories. Historical biogeography focuses on the relationships and origins of taxa, emphasizing the phylogenetic affinities of the species and how those tie in with the history of distributional patterns. In addition to the historical approaches to the study of distributions, present-day animal and plant distributions can be described on the basis of overall structure of plant communities relative to climate.
Publication Year: 2009
Publication Date: 2009-01-01
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 6
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