ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

, a supertramp species is any type of animal which follows the "supertramp" strategy of high dispersion among many different habitats, towards none of which it is particularly specialized. Supertramp species are typically the first to arrive in newly available habitats, such as

volcanic island Geologically, a volcanic island is an island of volcanic origin. The term high island can be used to distinguish such islands from low islands, which are formed from sedimentation or the uplifting of coral reefs (which have often formed ...

s and freshly

deforested Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...

land; they can have profoundly negative effects on more highly specialized flora and fauna, both directly through predation and indirectly through competition for resources. The name was coined by

Jared Diamond Jared Mason Diamond (born September 10, 1937) is an American scientist, historian, and author. In 1985 he received a MacArthur Genius Grant, and he has written hundreds of scientific and popular articles and books. His best known is '' Guns, G ...

in 1974, as an allusion to both the

itinerant An itinerant is a person who travels habitually. Itinerant may refer to: *"Travellers" or itinerant groups in Europe *Itinerant preacher, also known as itinerant minister *Travelling salespeople, see door-to-door, hawker, and peddler *Travelling s ...

lifestyle of the

tramp A tramp is a long-term homeless person who travels from place to place as a vagrant, traditionally walking all year round. Etymology Tramp is derived from a Middle English verb meaning to "walk with heavy footsteps" (''cf.'' modern English '' ...

, and the then-popular band

Supertramp Supertramp were a British rock band formed in London in 1970. Marked by the individual songwriting of founders Roger Hodgson (vocals, keyboards and guitars) and Rick Davies (vocals and keyboards), the group were distinguished for blending p ...

. Although Diamond originally applied the term only to birds, the term has since been applied to insects and reptiles as well, among others; ''any'' species which can migrate can be a supertramp. In an evolutionary context, the supertramp may represent the first stage of the taxon cycle.Pepke, M. L., Irestedt, M., Fjeldså, J., Rahbek, C., & Jønsson, K. A. (2019). Reconciling supertramps, great speciators and relict species with the taxon cycle stages of a large island radiation (Aves: Campephagidae). ''Journal of Biogeography'', 46(6), 1214-1225. doi:10.1111/jbi.13577

References

* Ecological processes Ecology terminology Itinerant living {{ecology-stub

See also

References