Species–area curves predict fewer species on smaller habitat islands
Ecologists plot how species richness scales with area: larger islands and habitat patches almost always hold more species, but the rise is decelerating, not linear.
The pattern holds from true oceanic islands to forest fragments in farmland. Halving area rarely halves richness — yet each further cut removes a disproportionate share of rare specialists.
Size is a biodiversity budget. Species–area curves turn map geometry into a forecast of how many unique lives a shrinking patch can still support.
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