A complex habitat containing more rich and vast abiotic factors, such as sunlight, rain, water, and soil, has a much higher chance of successfully providing homes to different species of plants and animals than any homogeneous landscape would. This goal of researchers was to prove that the biodiversity of a homogeneous habitat is much lower than that of a heterogeneous area, meaning it only provides for very few species of plants and animals.\u00a0Researchers sought to test this hypothesis in an ecosystem located in Northeastern US. They constructed an index consisting of organized study plots that sought to summarize differences in terrain and soil properties.\u00a0Researchers then measured the species richness and diversity in several study plots with high geomorphological heterogeneity within their species and others with low geomorphological heterogeneity.\u00a0The results of the study proved that areas that experienced more change in terrain and soil conditions (heterogeneous) were much more diverse when it came to shrub and tree species.\u00a0They also concluded that the differences in aspects and soil drainage were particularly important predictors of biotic diversity.\u00a0The results of the study showed a close relationship between abiotic and biotic diversity and thus have important implications to conservation strategies in the coming future. I found this research article to be informative and interesting. Some of the information on the study, including\u00a0geomorphological heterogeneity,\u00a0was for the most part new to me. I was generally aware of the effect of a habitats diversity on the niches it could provide for.\u00a0I learned that the variation in soil and drainage was a major factor when it came to the diversity of a landscape. Think that this article would be interesting to others because it provides detailed explanations of an interesting topic most of us already know about.\u00a0The hypothesis backed by persuasive data and eventually the conclusion of the study which i think will also be of interest to others.<\/p>\n
Different steps were required to acquire the needed data.\u00a0Variations in topographic aspects, slope, drainage, soil depth, and horizon textures were estimated separately and combined to produce an index of geomorphological heterogeneity for every 2 hectares. Each of these geomorphological features were combined into a single composite data set.\u00a0Researchers used the Shannon-Weaver diversity index to create an index of geomorphological heterogeneity for all the cells.<\/p>\n
Authors:<\/strong><\/p>\n Michael R. Burnette; Pete V. August; James H. Brown Jr.; Keith T. Killingbeck<\/p>\n Link to Article:<\/strong><\/p>\n http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1111\/j.1523-1739.1998.96238.x\/full<\/p>\n Citations:<\/strong><\/p>\n