Kean University
Principles of Ecology
Unit 8: Assignment 4
Island Biogeography Lab
Student Name:
Lab Introduction: This lab assignment focuses on the study of island biogeography using a simulated
landscape in various habitats (tropical, subtropical, temperate, tundra, desert) and various animals
(arthropods, birds, reptiles, mammals). This simulation will help elucidate the equilibrium theory of
island biogeography that were thoroughly documented by Robert MacArthur and E.O. Wilson.
Directions: You must complete all parts of this lab activity. Please follow the directions of each section
and answer all associated questions. Answers should be thoughtful and complete to receive full credit.
Most of these questions cannot be answered with one simple sentence.
Part 1:
1. Go to the link
http://virtualbiologylab.org/ModelsHTML5/IslandBiogeography/IslandBiogeography.html
Alternatively: If that link does not work, go to the link http://virtualbiologylab.org/. You will select
cology Models!nd select ©odiversity Ecology!nd identify odel 1 sland Biogeography!nd
click on !unch Model². Read the background information on Island Biogeography that can be found on the labs homepage
and revisit chapter 21.3 in the Economy of Nature textbook for more information.
Introduction Question 1: How does life history of an organism and or the ability to survive in extreme
environments contribute to the ability of an organism to colonize a distant island?
Introduction Question 2: how does productivity of an ecosystem contribute to the eventual species
richness of that ecosystem?
3. From the Island Biogeography home page: Click on Tutorial to review the simulation. You may also
want to watch the Island Biogeography Screen Capture Video which can be found with the lab document
in Unit 8.
4. All simulations will be run in a Tropical Habitat and the mortality rate will be set at 0.05. Other
parameters/settings will change as directed below
5. For each simulation you will set the parameters as indicated in the simulation parameters table.
a. click on run experiments to open the simulation.
b. click the play/pause button and click clear islands so the simulation parameters can be set.
c. once simulation parameters are set, click the arrow / Data!nd click the play/pause button
to start the simulation
d. At ~100 run time, click on Reset Average, and then let the simulation have a run time of ~500.
Press the play/pause button to stop the simulation.
e. record Island total abundance, current species richness, and average # of species for each
island in the results table.
f. Click on Clear islands and run that simulation 2 more times following directions (b-e) (3 total
runs for each simulation).
g. Follow directions (b-f) for each of the 12 simulations.
6. Simulation parameters
Sim. #
Island 1 Island 2
Distance Distance
(km)
(km)
1
50
50
2
50
50
3
50
50
4
50
250
5
50
250
6
50
250
7
250
50
8
250
50
9
50
50
10
50
250
11
50
250
12
50
250
Island 1
Diameter
(km)
256
256
256
256
256
256
256
256
256
256
256
256
Island 2
Diameter
(km)
256
128
64
256
128
64
128
64
256
256
128
64
Taxon
Migration
rate
Arthropods
Arthropods
Arthropods
Arthropods
Arthropods
Arthropods
Arthropods
Arthropods
Mammals
Mammals
Mammals
Mammals
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
6. Results:
Simulation
Number
Simulation
run
Simulation 1
Simulation 1
Simulation 1
Simulation 2
Simulation 2
Simulation 2
Simulation 3
Simulation 3
Simulation 3
Simulation 4
Simulation 4
Simulation 4
Simulation 5
Simulation 5
Simulation 5
Simulation 6
Simulation 6
Simulation 6
Simulation 7
Simulation 7
Simulation 7
Simulation 8
Simulation 8
Simulation 8
Simulation 9
Simulation 9
Simulation 9
Simulation 10
Simulation 10
Simulation 10
Simulation 11
Simulation 11
Simulation 11
Simulation 12
Simulation 12
Simulation 12
1
2
3
1
2
3
1
2
3
1
2
3
1
2
3
1
2
3
1
2
3
1
2
3
1
2
3
1
2
3
1
2
3
1
2
3
Total abundance
Island 1 Island 2
Current Richness
Island 1
Island 2
Average Richness
Island 1
Island 2
Part 2: Data analysis and discussion: Follow the questions and evaluate the results of the study keeping
in mind the theory of island biogeography and what we have learned about fragmentation, habitat
value, and dispersal.
1. Is current number of species always the same or very close to average number of species? If not,
which simulations do they diverge the most? Which do you think is the best measure of island
biodiversity? Explain reasoning.
2. Compare the results of simulations 1, 2, and 3. What are the major differences in the setup of the
simulations and the results? Explain why the results occurred?
3. Compare the results of simulations 4, 5, and 6. What are the major differences in the setup of the
simulations and the results? Explain why the results occurred?
4. Compare the results of simulations 1 and 4. What are the major differences in the setup of the
simulations and the results? Explain why the results occurred?
5. What valued did simulation 7 and 8 provide to the research of how island size and distance impact
species richness?
6. Compare the results of simulations 2 and 3 to 7 and 8. What are the major differences in the setup of
the simulations and the results? Explain why the results occurred? What is the biggest factor that
determines the population of arthropods on an island?
7. How does migration rate (simulations 1-8 compared to 9-12) impact the number of species that occur
on an island? Provide detailed comparisons of your simulations and your results to strengthen your
answer.
8. Thinking of life history and ecology, why would mammals have a slower migration rate than
arthropods?
9. In our simulations we did not change the habitat type. If we changed the habitat type from Tropical
to a Desert how would it impact migration rate and mortality rate? For each (migration/mortality rate)
would there be a negative impact on rate, positive impact on rate, or no change? Explain your
reasoning.

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