CHAPTER 50 AN INTRODUCTION TO ECOLOGY AND THE BIOSPERE Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings Section D: The Spatial Scale of Distributions 1.Different factors may determine the distribution of a species on different scales 2. Most species have small geographic ranges

Describing a species’ geographic range on different scales can be difficult. However, we can measure geographic ranges on several spatial scales. 1. Different factors may determine the distribution of a species on different scales Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Fig Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Only a small minority of species are widespread. Some North American birds and plants exhibit this phenomenon. 2. Most species have small geographic ranges Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings Fig