Name: Stable Community and Biodiversity Conservation
Uploaded: 2019-07-19
Duration: 9 min 44 s
Description: Our planet has millions of species of plants, animals, and other living organisms. What happens if one of them becomes extinct? Learn more about a stable com...

Question

Species diversity decreases as we move away from the equator towards the poles. What could be the possible reasons?

Accepted Answer

In general, species diversity decreases as we move away from the equator towards the poles. The possible reason could be as follows:

1. Temperature decreases as we move away from the equator towards the polar regions.
2. The intensity of sunlight decreases as we move away from the equator towards the poles. This is because the rays are divergent from the sun and intensity is high at the centre.

3. In polar regions, the temperature is very low and this does not support most of the organisms to survive.
4. Vegetation cover decreases from the equator to the poles and this is the reason for lower productivity in polar regions.

5. Seasonal variations are important for species diversity especially to propagate in a suitable climate. This is less prevalent in the polar regions.

Species diversity decreases as we move away from the equator towards the poles. What could be the possible reasons?

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