3(a) Study the given graphs (X) and (Y) depicting the annual variation in solar radiation on Earth from January to December and answer 3 the undermentioned questions.
(i) Identify the graph that depicts (I) tropical region, and (II) temperate region, respectively.
(ii) Which of the two regions, (X) or (Y), will show high biological diversity and why? Give two reasons.
Solution:
(i) Graph X represents temperate region.
Graph Y represents tropical region.
(ii) Tropical region represented by Graph Y will show high species diversity.
There are three different hypotheses proposed by scientists for explaining species richness in the tropics.
(i) Graph X represents temperate region.
Graph Y represents tropical region.
(ii) Tropical region represented by Graph Y will show high species diversity.
There are three different hypotheses proposed by scientists for explaining species richness in the tropics.
(1) Tropical latitudes receive more solar energy than temperate regions, which leads to high productivity and high species diversity.
(2) Tropical regions have less seasonal variations and have a more or less constant environment. This promotes the niche specialization and thus, high species richness.
(3) Temperate regions were subjected to glaciations during the ice age, while tropical regions remained undisturbed which led to an increase in the species diversity in this region.