Consequences of species-area relationships (SARs) of the form S=cAz are derived. One consequence is an endemics-area relationship (EAR); it is of the same power-law form as the SAR but with an exponent z′ that is a function only of z and that always exceeds unity. An explicit formula is derived for the dependence of species turnover in space on census plot size, interplot distance, and the SAR exponent z; this formula can be used to determine z over spatial scales that are too large to permit direct estimate of z by censusing of nested patches. The areal dependence of link-species patterns observed in food webs is also examined; SARs are shown to imply the approximate, but not exact, area-independence of link-species relationships of the form L=kSy, where L is the number of trophic links and y ≤ 2. A relationship between the average range of species in a habitat patch and the exponent z is also derived, leading to the result that average range is a decreasing function of both patch area and z.
Oikos is a journal issued by the Nordic Ecological Society and is one of the leading peer-reviewed journals in ecology. Oikos publishes original and innovative research on all aspects of ecology. Emphasis is on theoretical and empirical work aimed at generalization and synthesis across taxa, systems and ecological disciplines. Papers should be well founded in ecological theory and contribute to new developments in ecology by reporting novel theory or critical experimental results. Confirming or extending the established literature is given less priority. Synthesis of new and emerging fields in ecology and beyond is encouraged. Papers of review character should should strive for conceptual unification and being a point of departure for future work rather that restrospective summaries of established fields or topics.
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