Cumulative annual dung beetle diversity in Mediterranean seasonal environments
| Autor: | Gabriella Bonsignori, Mario Zunino, Claudia E. Moreno, Marco Dellacasa, Rossana Agoglitta |
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| Rok vydání: | 2011 |
| Předmět: |
biology
Ecology Beta diversity Species diversity Idiosyncratic species biology.organism_classification Ecoregion Abundance (ecology) Temporal species turnover Alpha diversity Scarabaeoidea Ecosystem diversity Species richness Idiosyncratic species Scarabaeoidea Species diversity Temporal beta diversity Temporal species turnover Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics Temporal beta diversity Dung beetle |
| Zdroj: | Ecological Research. 27:387-395 |
| ISSN: | 1440-1703 0912-3814 |
| Popis: | Species diversity assessments should consider the dynamic nature of ecological communities, especially in highly seasonal ecosystems. Here we provide a compre- hensive framework for analysing seasonal changes in species composition, richness and diversity in two local dung beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea: Aphodiidae, Geotrupidae, and Scarabaeidae) communities from Wes- tern Tuscany (Italy), in the Mediterranean ecoregion. We test whether, in this highly seasonal region, cumulative annual diversity is an oversimplification of well differen- tiated seasonal communities. Data were obtained through repeated standardised samples collected regularly over an entire year. We clearly identify different summer and winter communities at each site based on species compo- sition and abundance. Seasonal richness and diversity values are different from the cumulative annual values, as a consequence of beta diversity between seasons, and some dung beetle species are identified as idiosyncratic of each particular season. Both ecological (niche partition- ing) and biogeographical factors are suggested as drivers of these temporal variations. Thus, because local inven- tories of fauna that include records over long time periods actually reflect situations where coexistence and interac- tions are unlikely to occur, highly seasonal sites must be viewed as having temporally differentiated communities in order to reach feasible and reliable baselines for local diversity assessments. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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