Biogeography of Puerto Rican ants: a non-equilibrium case? |
| |
| Authors: | JUAN A TORRES ROY R SNELLING |
| |
| Institution: | (1) Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico, PO Box 23360, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 00931-3360;(2) USDA Forest Service, International Institute for Tropical Forestry, PO Box 25000, Ri´o Piedras, Puerto Rico, 00928-2500, USA;(3) Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA |
| |
| Abstract: | Ants were studied on Puerto Rico and 44 islands surrounding Puerto Rico. Habitat diversity was the best predictor of the number of species per island and the distributions of species followed a nested subset pattern. The number of extinctions per island was low, approximately 1–2 extinctions per island in a period of 18 years, and the rates of colonization seem to be greater than the extinction rates. Ant dynamics on these islands do not seem to support the basic MacArthur and Wilson model of island biogeography. The MacArthur and Wilson equilibrium is based on the notion that species are interchangeable, but some extinctions and colonizations can change the composition and number of species drastically. |
| |
| Keywords: | Caribbean insects island equilibrium extinction tropics |
| 本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录！ |
|
