It is no secret that there is a huge variety of vida , with beings presenting the most varied body structures, colors and shapes in tropical regions . Science knows this phenomenon as latitudinal gradients of biodiversity. But why does this happen?
This is a question that has been in the minds of scientists for centuries, ever since they realized that the tropics gather many variations of specimens, such as animals, plants and even fungi. They also noticed that this diversity is decreasing more and more as they move away from the equator.
Biodiversity in droves in the tropics
“The closer we get to the tropics, the greater is the increase in the variety of structure, beauty of shapes and color mixtures, as well as perpetual youth and vigor of life. organic”, wrote the German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt, in 1807. And, according to Professor Andrew Dobson of Princeton University, there are three hypotheses that can explain this great diversity of life in tropical regions
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Life in tropical regions is usually more diverse and colorful than in other areas of the planet
The first hypothesis that tries to explain the latitudinal gradients of biodiversity has to do with energy. The idea is the following: the sum of greater incidence of sunlight in the tropics, rain and soil nutrients leads to greater plant growth. This, in turn, favors the development of the most diverse animals, which can feed, survive and reproduce.
The number hypothesis two have to do with the possible “age” of tropical areas: they would have been less impacted by long periods of cold weather, thus allowing species to have more time to evolve. Thus, over about 200 million years, the tropics had the advantage of not suffering as much from ice ages as other regions of the world and, therefore, life was able to continue evolving and diversifying.
Hypothesis affirms tropical zones suffered less impact from ice ages, facilitating the existence of life and evolution of species
The third and final hypothesis would be related to the limits of diversity. In this case, as ecology professor David Storch explains, the theory says that the most varied environments have different propensities to sustain life. Thus, tropical areas would be more “friendly” and capable of harboring much greater biodiversity than, for example, temperate zones. The more resources a particular region has to offer, the greater the diversity of animals living there.
Where there is life, there is death
Although there is greater biodiversity in these places, on the other hand, regions with a tropical climate also have a higher incidence of species extinction. In many cases, there may be the emergence of new species that end up competing for the same territory or resources, which in turn leads one — or even both — to the risk of extinction.
