Mangrove Melody (Simberloff and Wilson 1969)

Well it used to be that we used to say that the number of species in a place is dependent on who evolved over time in just that space. Then came along some bright young man with a wild idea that richness depends on the rate the species colonize and how fast they go extinct.

Colonization depends on the distance Between the place where you land and the place you came from So the smaller the island, the more species will missle As they blow out to sea And extinction's more likely when an island is tiny Small populations blink out all the time It's a matter of size and of oscillation

Form island biogeography Well the theory was great, but there was debate So Simbaloft stepped up to the plate To find out if communities really formed in this way Found themselves some mangrove stands And sprayed them with a fumigant To create denuded island that varied in size and space The cars just came back every couple of weeks

The county wall came blowing in with the breeze, and the ants and the bark flies and the crickets all arrived, and soon the rich snails peered in the air. They did find that remoteness and island sounds predict richness in communities that will arise.

Just as MacArthur and Wilson hypothesized.