Download Biological Diversity - New York State Museum
Download Biological Diversity - New York State Museum
Download Biological Diversity - New York State Museum
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A<br />
MONG MANY OF THE ENDANGERED FISH<br />
IN NEW YORK STATE ARE THE SHORT-NOSED<br />
STURGEON (PICTURED BELOW) AND THE<br />
EASTERN SAND DARTER. THE NOW-EXTINCT<br />
BLUE PIKE LOOKS VERY MUCH LIKE THE STILL-<br />
ABUNDANT WALLEYE, AND AS RECENTLY AS<br />
THE 1970S IT WAS A MAJOR COMMERCIAL FISH.<br />
The reason for the concentration of terrestrial diversity in rainforests and their<br />
marine equivalent in the coral reefs is one of the great unknowns of ecology. The concentration<br />
is actually the result of a more or less continuous increase in diversity<br />
encountered while traveling from the poles to the equator, the so-called latitudinal<br />
gradient of biodiversity. When biologists say “unknown” in this particular case, they<br />
really mean “not known with certainty.” Several hypotheses have been advanced,<br />
any one of which—or all of which—could be true to some extent. I am going to<br />
take a deep breath and try to impart the most likely explanation from a synthesis<br />
of these hypotheses, with due respect to current evidence:<br />
B i o l o g i c a l<br />
20 D i v e r s i t y