The theory of island biogeography, the sample-area effect, and the habitat diversity hypothesis: complementarity in a naturally fragmented landscape of lake islands

Aim: Investigate relationships between fragmentation and species diversity in the context of the theory of island biogeography, sample-area effect, and habitat diversity hypothesis.

Location: Lake of the Woods, Canada.

Taxon: Vascular plants

Methods: Vascular plant species diversity was inventoried on 30 islands, organized into two island sets. Each island set contained four size classes that varied in degree of fragmentation while controlling for the sample-area effect (small island set: 8×0.1-ha, 4×0.2-ha, 2×0.4-ha, and 1×0.8-ha islands; large island set: identical pattern utilizing 1.0-ha to 8.0-ha islands). Fragmentation effects were then examined using SLOSS-based analyses, addressing whether single large or several small islands contained more species: (1) direct comparisons of species and habitat richness across size classes; (2) extrapolations of species-area relationships; and (3) analyses of species and habitat accumulation curves. Multigroup path analysis was next u...