Patterns of diversity in microscopic animals: are they comparable to those in protists or in larger animals?
Articolo
Data di Pubblicazione:
2006
Citazione:
Patterns of diversity in microscopic animals: are they comparable to those in protists or in larger animals? / D. Fontaneto, G.F. Ficetola, R. Ambrosini, C. Ricci. - In: GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY. - ISSN 1466-822X. - 15:2(2006), pp. 153-162. [10.1111/j.1466-822x.2005.00193.x]
Abstract:
Aim
General patterns of biodiversity, such as latitudinal gradients and species-area
relationships, are found consistently in a wide range of organisms, but recent results
for protist diversity suggest that organisms shorter than 2 mm do not display such
patterns. We tested this prediction in bdelloid rotifers, pluricellular metazoans
smaller than 2 mm, but with size and ecology comparable to protists.
Location
A single valley in northern Italy was surveyed in detail and compared to
all available faunistic data on bdelloids worldwide.
Methods
We analysed 171 local assemblages of bdelloid rotifers living in 5 systems
of dry mosses and submerged mosses in running water and in lakes. We compared
patterns of alpha, beta, and gamma diversity, and nestedness of metacommunities,
with those known from protists and larger organisms.
Results
Bdelloid rotifers showed low local species richness (alpha diversity), with
strong habitat selection, as observed in larger organisms. The number of species differed
among systems, with a higher number of species in dry than in aquatic mosses.
There was no hierarchical structure or exclusion of species in the metacommunity
pattern within each system. Local diversity for the entire valley was surprisingly high
compared with worldwide bdelloid diversity, similar to observed patterns in protists.
Main Conclusions
Bdelloid rotifers have some of the peculiarities of protist
biodiversity, although at slightly different spatial scales, thus confirming the idea of
a major change in biodiversity patterns among organisms shorter than 2 mm.
However, bdelloids show stronger habitat selection than protists. We suggest two
possible explanations for the observed patterns: (1) dispersal is very rare, and not all
bdelloid clones are arriving everywhere; and (2) dispersal is effective in displacing
propagules, but environmental heterogeneity is very high and prevents many species
from colonizing a given patch of moss.
Tipologia IRIS:
01 - Articolo su periodico
Keywords:
Bdelloidea; Biodiversity; Community; Metacommunity; Rotifera; Speciesrichness
Elenco autori:
D. Fontaneto, G.F. Ficetola, R. Ambrosini, C. Ricci
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