Environmental Science
How Islands Exhibit Idiosyncratic Species-Area Relationships in Biodiversity Hotspots
Quick fact
On the Galápagos Islands, a single island can hold species found nowhere else on Earth, yet the species-area relationship across these islands is much steeper than on mainland ecosystems—meaning a small loss of area leads to a disproportionately large loss of species.
Why this is interesting
You might expect larger islands to always hold more species, but some tiny islands host more unique species than vast continents. Why do islands seem to break the rules of species-area relationships?