Species-area relationships were assessed for reptile species ontwo sets of islands in different regions of the Indian Ocean. Theestimated parameters were as follows: Region 1: c=1.6,z=0.25; Region 2: c=1.8, z=0.35. It is expected that 40%of the reptile habitat will be lost to development pressure overthe next decade.
In which region do you expect the loss of reptile species to begreatest, and by how much? Show your work and explain your answer.(3 pts)
b) A different group of species is then assessed on islands inthe first region, and the estimated parameters for this speciesgroup are c=2.5, z=0.29. What can you conclude about:
i) species richness of this group relative to the reptiles inthis region? Why? (1 pts)
ii) the range size of this group relative to the reptiles inthis region? Why? (1 pts)
As the conservation officer for Region 2, you were theperson tasked with determining the species-area relationship ofreptiles in the region. Explain how you came up with the estimatesof c=1.8 and z=0.35 (3 pts)
