SCALES, SAMPLES, POPULATIONSAND VARIATION IN DIVERSITY

Abstract

Diversity measurements can be influenced by the space and time scales of the samples. The resource use rates by a populations of a species were determined by the slope of a body mass X density power regression curve for mammals on different scales, The slope obtained for Neotropical mammals was -0.75 and on a local scale was -0.71, but it was variable along the time axis when we used instantaneous samples on local scales, This way be due to changes in resource availability as well as in population sizes and species richness at a given moment. These factors together with habitat fragmentation and isolation can influence diversity measurements, We propose that diversity studies should be done over large space and lime scales.