Tectonic activities shape the spatial patchiness in the distribution of global biological diversity

Abstract

The most well-recognized pattern in the global distribution of biological diversity is that the tropics at lower latitudes harbour relatively more species per unit area than the temperate zones at higher latitudes and several arguments are forwarded to explain this pattern. However within the tropics, the biological diversity does not exhibit any distinctly recognizable patterns. Rather it exhibits a very patchy distribution and we do not as yet understand the factors and processes driving such patchiness. In this paper, we demonstrate a strong spatial association between tectonic activities (TA) and the areas of high biological diversity (HBD), especially in the tropics. We argue that TAs over long geological time periods bring about altitude variations in their surrounding areas, contribute to volcanic and magma mineral nutrients and bring about climatic changes, all of which translate into habitat heterogeneity, facilitating a high species packaging in such areas. Thus, we propose that within the biologically-rich tropical belt, spatial distribution of biological diversity is brought about by the tectonic activities.