You are here:
STRESSOR DATA SETS FOR STUDYING SPECIES DIVERSITY AT LARGE SPATIAL SCALES
Citation:
Wickham, J., J. Wu, AND D. Bradford. STRESSOR DATA SETS FOR STUDYING SPECIES DIVERSITY AT LARGE SPATIAL SCALES. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/R-95/018.
Description:
There is increasing scientific and societal concern over the impact of anthropogenic activities (e.g., habitat destruction, pollution) on biodiversity. he impact of anthropogenic activities on biodiversity is generally recognized as a global phenomenon. t large spatial scales, several studies have shown geographic patterns in species diversity, and these patterns have been most strongly linked to aspects of climate & topography, not anthropogenic activities. hat is known about the impact of anthropogenic activities on species diversity (and loss) is mostly from studies at much smaller spatial scales. his gap in knowledge poses a challenge to the study of the influence of stressors on species diversity patterns at large spatial scales. ased on the literature, stress is defined as the response of a system to a disturbance, & stressor is the disturbance. he purpose of this report is to review what is currently known about factors that influence distributional patterns of species richness, & to identify the appropriate stressor data sets to evaluate the influence of stressors on patterns of species richness at large spatial scales. his research is being done for the interagency Biodiversity Research Consortium (BRC), which has been formed to study species diversity patterns at large spatial scales.