Scientists examine 'perfect storms' fueling vast tropical biodiversity
Researchers discovered that rare “perfect storms” play a key role in the history of life since local environmental factors determine the biodiversity of a given region. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Researchers have been studying the nature of life on Earth and the role of biodiversity. Given the current state of slow biodiversity loss as a variety of species populations are gradually diminishing toward the poles, scientists from the University of Chicago, University of California, Berkeley, and University of California, San Diego try to reconcile two competing ideas that explain this phenomenon in their study published in The American Naturalist.

The first idea states that local environmental factors determine the biodiversity of a given region while the second argues that lineages arise elsewhere and enter into adjoining geographical areas to generate the biodiversity of a given region. In their research, David Jablonski from the University of Chicago and his colleagues from the University of California, Berkeley and University of California, San Diego weigh the viability of both factors work in…