Two ecologists, Robert H. MacArthur and Edward Wilson, studied how organisms immigrate to islands and how their numbers change after colonization. They developed the island biogeography model to explain the composition and diversity of island species. The graph below shows the number of species versus the size of the Caribbean island: Use the Species by Area graph to answer the following:
Describe the relationship between species number and island size observed in the data.
Describe two additional factors that affect species richness on islands.

Scientists have found that most species on the same continent are more closely related to each other than to organisms on other continents. They hypothesize that this phenomenon is due to the evolution that occurred after the continents split apart, or in the case of island biogeography, after islands formed off the coast of mainland regions.
Explain the role of adaptive evolution in island biodiversity.
Describe one process that leads to speciation of islands.
Explain how the biodiversity of an island affects its ecological tolerance to change.
Explain how specialist species are affected when generalist species migrate to an island.

Island ecosystems experience ecological succession in different stages of their development.
Describe the process of primary succession on an island.
Describe the process of secondary succession on an island.
Identify two scenarios that lead to secondary succession on an island. Explain how these scenarios can affect island biodiversity.