The use of taxonomic distinctness to assess environmental disturbance of insect communities from running water

1. Taxonomic distinctness (or average taxonomic breadth) of a sample is a measure of diversity that has the great advantage of not being sensitive to variations in sampling effort, unlike measures of species richness. It can also be tested for departures from expectation and can thus be used to determine whether a site has suffered from a genuine loss of diversity. 2. Taxonomic distinctness or delta⁺ was measured using all insect species from three datasets obtained from running water habitats: reference or least disturbed sites from channel and bank habitats on rivers from the Australian state of Victoria; test sites distributed along a water quality gradient in Victoria and sites immediately below a series of dams in Victoria and New South Wales. The last two datasets comprised sites subject to a range of obvious disturbances. 3. At reference sites delta⁺ was generally within the range of expected values (95% confidence limits) for both habitats as would be anticipated for these essentially undisturbed sites. However, 13–14% of sites fell below the lower confidence limits. Sites in river basins with less cover of natural habitat had slightly but significantly lower delta⁺ values than those with more cover and these sites contributed to this anomaly. 4. Delta⁺ was inversely correlated with water quality (r = −0.54, P = 0.002) as measured by the first axis of a PCA of water quality variables. It was also inversely correlated with individual variables, such as turbidity and total phosphorous. 5. Delta⁺ was below expectation for 18 of the 19 dam sites and at 13 of these sites delta⁺ values were below the lower confidence limit. 6. Delta⁺ was a sensitive index of diversity that generally distinguished sites suffering from environmental disturbance. Only a few previous studies of river ecosystems have used delta⁺, which did not respond consistently to disturbance because either too few taxa at species or higher taxonomic levels were available or because longitudinal changes in species composition swamped the signal from delta⁺. Neither of these problems occurred with the current datasets. 7. Delta⁺ responded more readily to disturbance than number of species, perhaps because taxonomic distinctness reflects some of the multivariate nature of community samples, whereas number of species is blind to this aspect.     

Responses of taxonomic distinctness and species diversity indices to anthropogenic impacts and natural environmental gradients in stream macroinvertebrates

1. Many studies have shown traditional species diversity indices to perform poorly in discriminating anthropogenic influences on biodiversity. By contrast, in marine systems, taxonomic distinctness indices that take into account the taxonomic relatedness of species have been shown to discriminate anthropogenic effects. However, few studies have examined the performance of taxonomic distinctness indices in freshwater systems. 2. We studied the performance of four species diversity indices and four taxonomic distinctness indices for detecting anthropogenic effects on stream macroinvertebrate assemblages. Further, we examined the effects of catchment type and area, as well as two variables (pH and total phosphorus) potentially describing anthropogenic perturbation on biodiversity. 3. We found no indications of degraded biodiversity at the putatively disturbed sites. However, species density, rarefied species richness, Shannon's diversity and taxonomic diversity showed higher index values in streams draining mineral as opposed to peatland catchments. 4. Of the major environmental gradients analysed, biodiversity indices showed the strongest relationships with catchment area, lending further support to the importance of stream size for macroinvertebrate biodiversity. Some of the indices also showed weak linear and quadratic relationships to pH and total phosphorus, and residuals from the biodiversity index‐catchment area regressions (i.e. area effect standardized) were more weakly related to pH and total phosphorus than the original index values. 5. There are a number of reasons why the biodiversity indices did not respond to anthropogenic perturbation. First, some natural environmental gradients may mask the effects of perturbation on biodiversity. Secondly, perturbations of riverine ecosystems in our study area may not be strong enough to cause drastic changes in biodiversity. Thirdly, multiple anthropogenic stressors may either increase or decrease biodiversity, and thus the coarse division of sites into reference and altered streams may be an oversimplification. 6. Although neither species diversity nor taxonomic distinctness indices revealed anthropogenic degradation of macroinvertebrate assemblages in this study, the traditional species diversity and taxonomic distinctness indices were very weakly correlated. Therefore, we urge that biodiversity assessment and conservation planning should utilize a number of different indices, as they may provide complementary information about biotic assemblages.     

A parametric diversity measure combining the relative abundances and taxonomic distinctiveness of species

Most ecological diversity indices summarize the information about the relative abundances of species without reflecting taxonomic differences between species. Nevertheless, in environmental conservation practice, data on species abundances are mostly irrelevant and generally unknown. In such cases, to summarize the conservation value of a given site, so‐called ‘taxonomic diversity’ measures can be used. Such measures are based on taxonomic relations among species and ignore species relative abundances. In this paper, bridging the gap between traditional biodiversity measures and taxonomic diversity measures, I introduce a parametric diversity index that combines species relative abundances with their taxonomic distinctiveness. Due to the parametric nature of the proposed index, the contribution of rare and abundant species to each diversity measure is explicit.     

Convergence of fish communities from the littoral zone of reservoirs

1. Understanding factors that regulate the assembly of communities is a main focus of ecology. Human‐engineered habitats, such as reservoirs, may provide insight into these assembly processes because they represent novel habitats that are subjected to colonization by fishes from the surrounding river basin or transported by humans. By contrasting community similarity within and among reservoirs from different drainage basins to nearby stream communities, we can test the relative constraints of reservoir habitats and regional species pools in determining species composition of reservoirs. 2. We used a large spatial database that included intensive collections from 143 stream and 28 reservoir sites within three major river basins in the Great Plains, U.S.A., to compare patterns of species diversity and community structure between streams and reservoirs and to characterize variation in fish community structure within and among major drainage basins. We expected reservoir fish faunas to reflect the regional species pool, but would be more homogeneous that stream communities because similar species are stocked and thrive in reservoirs (e.g. planktivores and piscivores), and they lack obligate stream organisms that are not shared among regional species pools. 3. We found that fish communities from reservoirs were a subset of fishes collected from streams and dominant taxa had ecological traits that would be favoured in lentic environments. Although there were regional differences in reservoir fish communities, species richness, patterns of rank abundance and community structure in reservoir communities were more homogonous across three major drainage basins than for stream communities. 4. The general pattern of convergence of reservoir fish community structure suggests their assembly is constrained by local factors such as habitat and biotic interactions, and facilitated by the introduction of species among basins. Because there is a reciprocal transfer of biota between reservoirs and streams, understanding factors structuring both habitats is necessary to evaluate the long‐term dynamics of impounded river networks.     

分类多样性在大型底栖动物生态学方面的应用:以黄海底栖动物为例

根据文献资料,系统整理了黄海大型底栖动物物种名录,并得到了其平均分类差异指数和分类差异变异指数的理论平均值及95%置信区间漏斗图。结果表明,黄海共有大型底栖动物1,360种,分属于17门35纲91目368科842属。其平均分类差异指数的理论平均值为93.7,分类差异变异指数为213.6。将已知受到中度扰动的胶州湾部分站位真实值叠加到平均分类差异指数的95%置信区间漏斗图中,发现全部站位均显著低于95%置信区间,显示了平均分类差异指数在海洋污染监测方面的良好应用前景。     

Quantifying the effects of nutrient addition on the taxonomic distinctness of serpentine vegetation

Traditional diversity indices summarize the information about the relative abundances of species within a community without regard to differences between species. However, intuitively, a community composed of dissimilar taxa is more diverse than a community composed of more similar taxa. Therefore, useful indices of diversity should account for taxonomic relations among species. In this paper, a new parametric diversity index that combines species relative abundances and their taxonomic distinctiveness is used to quantify the way in which soil fertilization affects the diversity of a garigue community on ultramafic soils of Tuscany (central Italy). Results show that, while ultramafic soils generally host plant communities of limited taxonomic diversity with respect to similar communities on other substrates, fertilization significantly enhances the biomass production of species that are not exclusive to ultramafic soils. As a consequence, if diversity is measured combining species relative abundances with their taxonomic distinctiveness, nutrient addition tends to increase the diversity of ultramafic communities.     

Untangling latitudinal richness gradients at higher taxonomic levels: familial perspectives on the diversity of New World bat communities

Aims (i) To describe at the level of local communities latitudinal gradients in the species richness of different families of New World bats and to explore the generality of such gradients. (ii) To characterize the relative effects of changes in the richness of each family to the richness of entire communities. (iii) To determine differences in the rate and direction of latitudinal gradients in species richness within families. (iv) To evaluate how differences among families regarding latitudinal gradients in species richness influence the latitudinal gradient in species richness of entire communities. Location Continental New World ranging from the northern continental United States (Iowa, 42° N) to eastern Paraguay (Canindeyú, 24° S). Methods Data on the species composition of communities came from 32 intensively sampled sites. Analyses focused on species richness of five of nine New World bat families. Multivariate analysis of variance and discriminant function analysis determined and described differences among temperate, subtropical, and tropical climatic zones regarding the species richness of bat families. Simple linear regression described latitudinal gradients in species richness of families. Path analysis was used to describe: (i) the direct effect of latitude on species richness of communities, (ii) the indirect effects of latitude on the species richness of communities through its effect on the species richness of each family, (iii) the relative effects of latitude on the species richness of bat families, and (iv) the relative contribution of each family to variation in the species richness of communities. Results Highly significant differences among climatic zones existed primarily because of a difference between the temperate zone and the tropical and subtropical zones combined. This difference was associated with the high number of vespertilionids in the temperate zone and the high number of phyllostomids in the tropical and subtropical zones. Latitudinal gradients in species richness were contingent on phylogeny. Although only three of the five families exhibited significant gradients, all families except for the Vespertilionidae exhibited indistinguishable increases in species richness with decreases in latitude. The Emballonuridae, Phyllostomidae and Vespertilionidae exhibited significant latitudinal gradients whereby the former two families exhibited the classical increase in species richness with decreasing latitude and the latter family exhibited the opposite pattern. Variation in species richness of all families contributed significantly to variation in the species richness of entire communities. Nonetheless, the Phyllostomidae made a significantly stronger contribution to changes in species richness of communities than did all other families. Much of the latitudinal gradient in species richness of communities could be accounted for by the effects of latitude on the species richness of constituent families. Main conclusions Ecological and evolutionary differences among higher taxonomic units, particularly those differences involving life‐history traits, predispose taxa to exhibit different patterns of diversity along environmental gradients. This may be particularly true along extensive gradients such as latitude. Nonetheless, species rich taxa, by virtue of their greater absolute rates of change, can dominate and therefore define the pattern of diversity at a higher taxonomic level and eclipse differences among less represented taxa in their response to environmental gradients. This is true not only with respect to how bats drive the latitudinal gradient in species richness for all mammals, but also for how the Phyllostomidae drives the latitudinal gradient for all bats in the New World. Better understanding of the mechanistic basis of latitudinal gradients of diversity may come from comparing and contrasting patterns across lower taxonomic levels of a higher taxon and by identifying key ecological and evolutionary traits that are associated with such differences.     

Changes in tropical fish assemblages associated with small-scale fisheries: a case study in the Pacific off central Mexico

Information from artisanal marine fisheries inColima, Mexico is analyzed to find evidence ofchange in the composition of fish assemblagesresulting from fishing pressure. Catchcomposition from up to 20 boats per day, during2 to 6 days a month, were recorded from 1983 to1998. Stability of the species composition wasanalyzed using rank correlation methods, andmeasures of diversity (specific richness,Shannon-Wiener index, evenness) were estimatedfrom data. The resulting time-series wereanalyzed to detect trends. No significantdifferences were found in the number of speciescaught by month nor were significant trends indiversity detected. The composition of the fishassemblages is dynamic. The presence ofpersistent and resilient species that definedthe values obtained of diversity and evennesswas detected, but did not determine thestructure of the community, which is apparentlydefined by other factors. The changes incomposition of the catch probably are aconsequence of environmental fluctuations andrandom events, and not a direct consequence offishing pressures on the fish community.     

长江下游近口段近岸鱼类群落多样性及潮汐强度的影响

为了解长江下游近口段近岸鱼类群落多样性及其潮汐的影响,于2016—2017年在靖江样点、2017—2018年在常熟样点分别进行连续4个季度的鱼类调查,同步收集潮汐强度数据。结果表明:靖江样点共监测到鱼类61种,隶属于9目18科47属,鲢(Hypophthalmichthys molitrix)、刀鲚(Coilia nasus)、贝氏?(Hemiculter bleekeri)、草鱼(Ctenopharyngodon idellus)、鳙(Aristichthys nobilis)为主要优势种;常熟样点共监测到鱼类41种,隶属于8目14科34属,鲢、中国花鲈(Lateolabrax maculatus)、鳙、鳊(Parabramis pekinensis)和鲫(Carassius auratus)为主要优势种;靖江样点Margalef指数、Shannon指数和Simpson指数均大于常熟样点,Pielou指数则小于常熟样点; SIMPER分析表明,靖江和常熟样点周年群落组成平均相似度分别为64.5%和64.7%,样点间平均相异度为61.1%;不同季节各潮汐周期内鱼类群落多样性相关分析结果...     

Characterization of tropical near-shore fish communities by coastal habitat status on spatially complex island systems

Synopsis We present a protocol for characterizing near-shore fish habitat as well as fish communities for Andros Island, Bahamas, a complex coastal-reef island system. Benthic assessments and beach seine surveys were carried out at sites varying in coastal and benthic characteristics. Temporal variability affected fish community composition, indicating that attempts to characterize a fish community should include sampling evenly across tides, times of day, and seasons. Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that each site harbored a unique fish community, with the greatest variability within each site attributed to seasonal changes. Measures of diversity (Shannon–Weiner Index and number of species) were markedly different at sites with varying coverage of seagrass and macro-algae and extents of disturbance. Total abundance of fishes was positively related to the percent of bare sand. We suggest that thorough sampling of coastal fish communities can be applied to comparative and long-term studies. This protocol for the characterization of complex island habitats can be applied to ecological studies aimed at understanding the responses of fishes to small-scale changes in coastal areas and habitat structure due to land use and shoreline alterations.     

幕阜山森林群落结构与物种多样性研究

幕阜山地处中亚热带-北亚热带过渡地带,物种资源丰富.通过对其典型样地的调查,分别采用Shannon-Wiener指数、Simpson指数和Pielou均匀度指数作为测度指标,研究了幕阜山地区森林群落结构及其物种多样性特征.结果表明,该地区主要有21个森林群落类型.其中常绿阔叶林中,物种丰富度指数与多样性指数在群落梯度上的总体趋势均为灌木层相对高于乔木层,乔木层相对高于草本层;在落叶阔叶林中,其丰富度指数的趋势为灌木层＞草本层和乔木层,而在草本层与乔木层间是波动的,多样性指数的趋势为灌木层＞草本层＞乔木层;在针叶林中,物种丰富度、多样性指数表现的总趋势基本一致,即灌木层的丰富度相对较高,其次为草本层,乔木层的相对较小.在其他群落类型中,多样性指数、均匀度指数在乔木层、灌木层和草本层则表现出多样化的趋势;另外,从总体上看,各种指数在海拔梯度上并未表现出明显的规律性.     

Non-interactive fish communities in the coastal streams of North-western France

1. Spatial patterns of freshwater fish species at regional and local scales were investigated to explore the possible role of interspecific interactions in influencing distribution and abundance within communities occupying coastal streams of North-Western France.
2. Nine sites from nine streams situated in the same biogeographical region were sampled annually over the 6-year period from 1990 to 1995.
3. Similar habitats (sites) with richer regional colonization pools exhibited proportionally richer local communities in terms of number of species, total density and total biomass of individuals. Furthermore, no negative relationships were found between density and biomass of each of the most common species and local species richness.
4. Results of dynamic regression models (applied to the above-mentioned species) suggest an absence of strong competition between all pairs of species.
5. The evidence on lack of density compensation for species-poor communities and absence of perceptible interspecific competition between species suggest that the communities studied are non-interactive.
6. Two main explanations can be advanced. First, the local abundance of species in the communities studied could be determined through differential responses to unpredictable environmental changes, rather than through biological interactions. Second, as a result of historical events, the communities studied are reduced in congeneric species which can limit, in turn, the influence of interspecific competition in structuring these communities.
7. These results underline the strong influence of regional processes in shaping local riverine fish communities and minimize the possible influence of species interactions in governing these communities.     

中条山中段木本植物群落植物种多样性分析

采用样方法取样,依据重要值指标运用双向指示种分析(TWINSPAN)法,将山西中条山中段植被群系分成16个群丛。应用丰富度指数（R₁、R₂）、Simpson指数（λ）,Shannon-Weiner指数(H′)和均匀度指数(E₁、E₅)研究了16个群丛的植物种多样性。结果表明：群系植物种多样性指数的大小受立地生境和人为活动的综合影响;森林群落的植物种多样性指数明显高于灌丛群落;群落植物种多样性在空间上的差异不仅决定于物种丰富度指数,更与各物种间的均匀度指数密切相关;进而影响不同层次的物种多样性对群落总体物种多样性的贡献。     

Reliability for detecting composition and changes of microbial communities by T-RFLP genetic profiling

Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis is commonly used for profiling microbial communities in various environments. However, it may suffer from biases during the analytic process. This study addressed the potential of T-RFLP profiles (1) to reflect real community structures and diversities, as well as (2) to reliably detect changing components of microbial community structures. For this purpose, defined artificial communities of 30 SSU rRNA gene clones, derived from nine bacterial phyla, were used. PCR amplification efficiency was one primary bias with a maximum variability factor of 3.5 among clones. PCR downstream analyses such as enzymatic restriction and capillary electrophoresis introduced a maximum bias factor of 4 to terminal restriction fragment (T-RF) signal intensities, resulting in a total maximum bias factor of 14 in the final T-RFLP profiles. In addition, the quotient between amplification efficiency and T-RF size allowed predicting T-RF abundances in the profiles with high accuracy. Although these biases impaired detection of real community structures, the relative changes in structures and diversities were reliably reflected in the T-RFLP profiles. These data support the suitability of T-RFLP profiling for monitoring effects on microbial communities.     

Genus age,provincial area and the taxonomic structure of marine faunas

Species are unevenly distributed among genera within clades and regions, with most genera species-poor and few species-rich. At regional scales, this structure to taxonomic diversity is generated via speciation, extinction and geographical range dynamics. Here, we use a global database of extant marine bivalves to characterize the taxonomic structure of climate zones and provinces. Our analyses reveal a general, Zipf–Mandelbrot form to the distribution of species among genera, with faunas from similar climate zones exhibiting similar taxonomic structure. Provinces that contain older taxa and/or encompass larger areas are expected to be more species-rich. Although both median genus age and provincial area correlate with measures of taxonomic structure, these relationships are interdependent, nonlinear and driven primarily by contrasts between tropical and extra-tropical faunas. Provincial area and taxonomic structure are largely decoupled within climate zones. Counter to the expectation that genus age and species richness should positively covary, diverse and highly structured provincial faunas are dominated by young genera. The marked differences between tropical and temperate faunas suggest strong spatial variation in evolutionary rates and invasion frequencies. Such variation contradicts biogeographic models that scale taxonomic diversity to geographical area.     

High genetic differentiation of red gorgonian populations from the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea

Patterns of genetic variation within a species may be used to infer past events in the evolutionary history of marine species. In the present study we aimed to compare the genetic diversity of the red gorgonian Paramuricea clavata in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. For genetic markers we used microsatellites and a mitochondrial gene fragment. Our results revealed a distinct genetic composition and diversity between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. The Mediterranean samples had higher microsatellite heterozygosity, allelic richness and private allelic richness. The hypotheses that can explain these patterns are the isolation of Atlantic populations and/or a founder effect. Additionally, a clear difference was obtained from the mitochondrial locus, since sequences from Atlantic and Mediterranean samples diverged by 1%, which is high for soft corals.     

Diversity of benthic macrofauna in the eastern English Channel: comparison among and within communities

The diversity of benthic macrofaunal assemblages in the eastern English Channel is described from 707 samples collected with a Rallier-du-Baty dredge during 1971–1975. Four assemblages were primarily defined by means of multivariate data analyses and clustering methods: the Abra alba community, the Ophelia borealis community, the pebbles community and a mixed assemblage of the first three communities. Spatial heterogeneity of these communities is significantly correlated with sedimentary characteristics, although local variability appears to be controlled by both physical and biological processes. Ecological diversity of these communities was analysed considering species richness (S), the Shannon diversity index (H), and rank-frequency diagrammes (RFD). These analyses were performed at two spatial scales: for a single sample, and for a 'site of 10 pooled samples. Thus, several sites were chosen in order to compare diversity patterns and species quantitative structure among and within the communities. The greatest species richness was recorded for the pebbles (57–69) and the A. alba (63–79) communities. In the former, high values may be due to the complexity of microhabitats and the large flux of food related to strong currents. In the latter, both organic matter and terrestrial inputs associated with the mud favour the presence of deposit-feeder organisms. No clear trend was observed among and within the community sites in terms of the species quantitative structure. Thus, convex RFD shapes were observed in three assemblages: the mixed assemblage (offshore site), the A. alba (North Sea), and the pebbles (Normandy coast). Sigmoid shapes were observed in the pebbles (Dover Strait) and A. alba (English coast) communities. Presumably, these shapes can be caused by the combined action of physical (strong currents, substrate stability, mud content in the sediments) and biological factors (co-occurrence of species from different communities, strong species recruitment, relative dominance of carnivorous species).