As you move from the poles richness increases. It\u2019s a pattern that\u2019s been termed the \u2018latitudinal biodiversity gradient\u2019 by ecologists, and Victorian naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace was a pioneer in recognising and attempting to explain it.<\/p>\n
Wallace attributed this abundance to time: specifically that land closer to the equator<\/a> was the earliest formed and hadn\u2019t been disturbed by glacial activity at higher latitudes. He theorised that the relative stability of the tropical climate through the year, and through the ages, allowed species to accumulate here.<\/p>\n Almost 150 years later, understanding patterns of species richness is critical given today\u2019s global biodiversity crisis, and theories are hotly debated. One avenue of research claims the larger amount of solar energy at the equator is responsible for increased productivity, meaning a greater abundance of resources and more opportunity to adapt and specialise.<\/p>\n Another argues that the lack of \u2018catastrophic mortality\u2019 from climate events (particularly winter freezes) means species focus on competition for resources, resulting in faster evolutionary responses. Other experts contest that the increased number of predators at low latitudes drives the diversity of prey species.<\/p>\n While Wallace reasoned that \u201cuniformity and permanence\u201d were the essential drivers for biodiversity, recent research suggests change in the environment could be a key component.<\/p>\n Researchers from the University of St Andrews, Scotland, monitored fish populations on an Amazonian floodplain in surveys spanning almost 20 years. The research took place in the Mamirau\u00e1 Reserve, which extends over more than a million hectares, and is the largest area of flooded forest in Brazil.<\/p>\n During the high-water season, the forest can be flooded to a depth of up to 12m, with fish swimming between the branches of inundated trees. In the study, even the supremely adaptable red-bellied piranha and Amazon cichlid were unable to dominate in this fluctuating ecosystem<\/a>, enabling more species (including rare ones) to coexist. The scientists concluded that this natural environmental change could therefore fuel biodiversity<\/a>, as no one species was found to predictably exploit the largest fraction of local resources.<\/p>\n However, in the year following the final survey, the dry season exceeded all previous records. Researchers found that in higher water temperatures and lower water levels, omnivorous and bottom-feeding fish species flourished while others declined. How a changing climate may alter the tropics\u2019 biodiversity is yet to be seen.\u00a0<\/p>\n Why are red birds \u2013 well \u2013\u00a0red?<\/a>
10 rainbow animals: A dazzling display of colourful fur, feathers and scales<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As you move from the poles richness increases. It\u2019s a pattern that\u2019s been termed the \u2018latitudinal biodiversity gradient\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":196021,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[85,46,141,386],"class_list":{"0":"post-196020","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}