4 Important Factors That Influence the Rate of Extinction of Species
4 Important Factors That Influence the Rate of Extinction of Species are as follows: 1. Population Size and Geographic Distribution: Smaller populations are at greater risk of extinction than larger ones. Rosenzweig and Clark (1994) examined data from their studies of bird populations of the British Isles (Diamond, 1984). Their study shows that extinction probability decreases as population size increases. Similar finding are on record in case of spider populations on islands (Schoenor and Spiller, 1992) and bighorn sheep (Berger, 1990).Small populations are seriously affected than large ones due to small changes in natality, mortality or environmental factors. Larger genetic variability and distribution pattern of large population serve as a buffer in protecting them from risk of extinction. Geographic distributions and longevity of many species can be estimated (Jablonski and…