Question : What is the significance of the slope of regression in a species - area relationship?

Question : What is the significance of the slope of regression in a sp

1.	Question : What is the significance of the slope of regression in a species - area relationship?
Answer» Solution :German Naturalist and Geographer Alexander von Humboldt explored the wilderness of south American jungles and found that within a region the species richness increased with increasing area but upto a certain limit. The relationship between species richness and area for a wide variety of TAXA (angiosperm plants, BIRDS, BATS and freshwater fishes) turned out to be the rectangular hyperbola. On a logarithmic scale, the relationship is a straight line described by the equation. `log S = log C+ Z log A` where S = Species richness A= Area Z = Slope of the line (regression coefficient) C= Y-intercept Regression coefficient Z GENERALLY has a value of 0.1-0.2 regardless of taxonomic group or region. However, in case of the species-area relationship Area in very large areas like entire continents, the slope of the line appears to be much steeper (Z-value in the range of 0.6-1.2). For example, in case of the fruit EATING (frugivorous) birds and mammals in the tropical forests of different continents, the slope is found to be a steeper line.