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How many species of birds can exist on an island?

How many species of birds can exist on an island?
CIBIO-InBIO researcher, Martim Melo, participated in the team that led the first empirical demonstration of the well-known Theory of Island Biogeography.

In a study published in Nature, a new model was developed to prove the theory of island biogeography for birds. Using molecular data of hundreds of bird species from 41 archipelagos worldwide, it was possible to estimate not only colonization and extinction rates, but also speciation rates.

For the first time, evolution has been included in the model. The formation of species in archipelagos depends at the same time on the area and isolation: the larger and more isolated an island is; the more species will form there.

It is now also known that the vast majority of bird species on the islands constitute unique evolutionary branches as a result of independent colonisation of species from continents.

These findings will help future studies that attempt to answer long-debated questions, such as why only certain animal and plant groups speciate extensively, and whether there are upper limits to the species richness and speciation rates in specific regions of the globe.

To find out more about this topic, please see the links below:

"Investigador da U.Porto ajuda a comprovar teoria da biodiversidade com mais de 50 anos” | Notícias Universidade do Porto | February 20, 2020 (Information available in Portuguese)
"Porque é que umas ilhas têm mais aves do que outras?” | Público | February 19, 2020 (Information available in Portuguese)
"Estudo comprova factores que determinam diversidade de aves em ilhas oceânicas” | Diário de Notícias | February 21, 2020 (Information available in Portuguese)
"Estudo comprova fatores que determinam diversidade de aves nas ilhas" | País ao Minuto | February 20, 2020 (Information available in Portuguese)


To access the original article, please click here.

2020-02-28
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