Contribution of rarity and commonness to patterns of species richness

There is little understanding in ecology as to how biodiversity patterns emerge from the distribution patterns of individual species. Here we consider the question of the contributions of rare (restricted range) and common (widespread) species to richness patterns. Considering a species richness pattern, is most of the spatial structure, in terms of where the peaks and troughs of diversity lie, caused by the common species or the rare species (or neither)? Using southern African and British bird richness patterns, we show here that commoner species are most responsible for richness patterns. While rare and common species show markedly different species richness patterns, most spatial patterning in richness is caused by relatively few, more common, species. The level of redundancy we found suggests that a broad understanding of what determines the majority of spatial variation in biodiversity may be had by considering only a minority of species.     

The commonness of rarity in a deep-sea taxon

The generality and drivers of rarity, defined along the axes of geographic range, population size and habitat specificity, have received considerable scientific attention for well over a century. Yet, studies that examine rarity holistically among these three attributes are limited, especially among invertebrate and marine taxa. The perceived paradox of deep-sea species, with often low population size but large geographic ranges, remains poorly resolved and understood. Here I assess seven forms of rarity and their drivers in deep-sea bivalves across the Atlantic Ocean. Rarity appears to be a common trait among deep-sea bivalves, with nearly 85% of the species exhibiting some form of rarity. Bivalves also showed a strong bimodal pattern of very common and very rare species. Geographic range, population size and habitat specificity were all heavily right skewed. Taxonomic superfamilies, body size, energy availability, temperature, depth and latitude, all significantly predicted geographic range, population size and habitat specificity. In a few cases, these patterns were counter to theoretical expectations. The drivers of rarity appear to be predictable from knowledge of the intrinsic biological and extrinsic environmental context of the species. These findings have major implications for deep-sea conversation, especially as anthropogenic threats are increasing.     

How plant life‐history and ecological traits relate to species rarity and commonness at varying spatial scales

Comparative studies investigating relationships between plant traits and species rarity and commonness were surveyed to establish whether global patterns have emerged that would be of practical use in management strategies aimed at the long‐term conservation of species. Across 54 studies, 94 traits have been examined in relation to abundance, distribution and threatened status at local, regional and geographical spatial scales. Most traits (63) have yet to be the focus of more than one study. Half of the studies involved less than 10 species, and one‐quarter did not replicate rare–common contrasts. Although these features of the literature make it difficult to demonstrate robust generalizations regarding trait relationships with species rarity, some important findings surfaced in relation to traits that have been examined in two or more studies. Species with narrow geographical distributions were found to produce significantly fewer seeds (per unit measurement) than common species (in four of six studies), but did not differ with respect to breeding system (five of five studies). The majority of traits (including seed size, competitive ability, growth form and dispersal mode) were related to rarity in different ways from one study to the next. The highly context‐dependent nature of most trait relationships with rarity implies that application of knowledge concerning rare–common differences and similarities to management plans will vary substantially for different vegetation types and on different continents. A comparative analysis of distribution patterns in relation to several life‐history and ecological traits among 700 Australian eucalypt species was then performed. A significantly dispro­portionate number of tall species and species with long flowering durations had wide geographical ranges. Trait relationships with distribution were explored further through the development of a methodology incorporating multiple spatial scales. Eight theoretical categories were described illustrating variation in distribution patterns (and hence rarity and commonness) across small, intermediate and large spatial scales, based on the spatial structure of species occurrence across the Australian landscape. Each eucalypt species was placed into a category, and trait variation was explored across all species in relation to distribution patterns across multiple spatial scales. This approach yielded important information about trait relationships with distribution among the eucalypts, linking the spatial structure of points‐of‐occurrence with patterns of rarity and commonness. With the pressing need to protect increasing numbers of threatened species and slow rates of extinction, the development and refinement of a broadly usable methodology for rarity studies that encompasses multiple spatial scales, which can be used for any geographical location, will be useful in both conservation and management.     

The freshwater zooplankton of Central America and the Caribbean

So far mainly sporadic studies have been made on the freshwater zooplankton of this region. We studied material from Costa Rica, Cuba, Bahamas, El Salvador, Haiti and Trinidad and listed unpublished species data from Jamaica. In all 183 species of Rotifera; 104 of Cladocera; 64 Calanoida and Cyclopoida and a few Ostracoda are known from the region which includes Central America, the Caribbean Islands from the Bahamas to Trinidad and the islands off South America and Central America. Records from individual countries are generally low except for Cuban Cladocera and Copepoda. The total number of Copepoda and Cladocera recorded for the whole regions appears to be reasonably comprehensive. Daphnia is rare or absent from the equatorial regions and it is likely that the low species diversity may be due partly to the lack of a range of habitat types.     

Deconstructing richness patterns by commonness and rarity reveals bioclimatic and spatial effects in black fly metacommunities

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渤海浮游动物群落生态特点 Ⅱ.桡足类数量分布及变动

用1959年全国海洋普查浮游动物中网样品分析渤海浮游动物。尤其是中小型浮游动物的数量分布及变动特点。结果表明,渤海浮游动物全年平均丰度为3841ind／m^3,最大33756ind/m^3,最小6．5ind／m^3。其中桡足类年平均密度为3413ind／m^3,是数量的主要构成者。渤海浮游动物主要的高峰期出现在夏季,此外春、秋两季各自有一个小的高峰。春季峰主要是由双毛纺锤水蚤(Acartia bifilosa)的大量繁殖造成,秋季峰主要是由拟长腹剑水蚤(Oithona similis)构成。夏季峰是由于小拟哲水蚤(Paraclanus parvus)、强额拟哲水蚤(Paracalanus crassirostris)、拟长腹剑水蚤等多种桡足类和一些幼虫大量繁殖造成。渤海浮游动物季节演替比较明显。双毛纺锤水蚤、墨氏胸刺水蚤(Centropages mcmmurrichi)和中华哲水蚤(Calanus sinicus)是春季的优势种;小拟哲水蚤、拟长腹剑水蚤、近缘大眼剑水蚤(Corycaeus affinis)和太平洋纺锤水蚤（Acartia pacifica)是夏季的优势种;拟长腹剑水蚤、真刺唇角水蚤（Lubidocera euchaeta)等是秋季的优势种。数量的水平分布同温度的水平分布趋势基本一致。同盐度趋势相反。     

Comparative limnology,species diversity and biomass relationship of zooplankton and phytoplankton in five freshwater lakes in Kenya

Comparative studies on the limnology, species diversity and standing stock biomass of phytoplankton and zooplankton in five freshwater lakes, Naivasha and Oloidien, Ruiru, Masinga and Nairobi reservoirs, were undertaken. Phytoplankton chlorophyll a, dissolved oxygen and temperature were also measured. Thermocyclops oblongatus (Copepoda) was dominant in all the lakes. Ceriodaphnia cornuta and Diaphanosoma excisum (Cladocera) dominated in lakes Naivasha and Oloiden, whereas in Ruiru, Masinga and Nairobi reservoirs, Brachionus angularis and Hexarthra mira (Rotifera) were the dominant zooplankters. Phytoplankton biomass as chlorophyll a was lowest in Ruiru dam 5.64 ± 4.0 µg l^-1 and highest in the eutrophic Nairobi dam 71.5 ± 12.02 µg l^-1. The endorheic lakes Naivasha and Oloidien showed medium values of 24.5 ± 4.0 µg l^-1.     

Contribution of rarity and commonness to patterns of species richness in biogeographic transitions regions: Woody plants of Uruguay

There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that widespread (i.e. common) rather than geographically restricted species (i.e. rare) shape the overall distribution patterns of species richness. This is a non‐intuitive fact, given that local and regional assemblages are normally composed by numerous rare species and few common ones. We evaluated here the primacy of common species in a biogeographic transition zone, where rarity has frequently a higher incidence. We analysed the geographical variability of trees and shrubs in Uruguay, located in a transitional zone between prairie and forest biomes, to assess the relative contribution of rare and common species to the generation of richness patterns. The distribution of 301 species of the native woody assemblage of Uruguay was mapped over the national grid system (302 quadrants of approximately 22 × 30 km), using published data and herbarium records. The overall assemblage was segregated into four subassemblages in function of species distribution (quartiles). Species richness in the four quartiles was positively correlated with overall richness, but common species (quartile 3) showed the highest level of correlation. Then, we ranked species from the most widespread to the most restricted (common‐to‐rare) and from the most restricted to the most widespread (rare‐to‐common). Along each stage of the sequences we obtained a series of species richness patterns for increasing numbers of species. Correlating the species richness pattern for each subassemblage of both sequences with that of the full assemblage, we also found higher correlations in the common‐to‐rare sequence. We conclude the Uruguayan woody plants assemblage has a very large number of rare species as expected for a transitional biogeographical zone, but it was the common species that contributed most to the overall pattern of species richness. We propose the low contribution of rare species is explained by the most interspecific variability in ecological determinants within the assemblage of rare species. Therefore the spatial covariance among rare species is low, and so is the relationship with overall species richness.     

A unified model explains commonness and rarity on coral reefs

Abundance patterns in ecological communities have important implications for biodiversity maintenance and ecosystem functioning. However, ecological theory has been largely unsuccessful at capturing multiple macroecological abundance patterns simultaneously. Here, we propose a parsimonious model that unifies widespread ecological relationships involving local aggregation, species‐abundance distributions, and species associations, and we test this model against the metacommunity structure of reef‐building corals and coral reef fishes across the western and central Pacific. For both corals and fishes, the unified model simultaneously captures extremely well local species‐abundance distributions, interspecific variation in the strength of spatial aggregation, patterns of community similarity, species accumulation, and regional species richness, performing far better than alternative models also examined here and in previous work on coral reefs. Our approach contributes to the development of synthetic theory for large‐scale patterns of community structure in nature, and to addressing ongoing challenges in biodiversity conservation at macroecological scales.     

Rarity facets of biodiversity: Integrating Zeta diversity and Dark diversity to understand the nature of commonness and rarity

Measuring commonness and rarity is pivotal to ecology and conservation. Zeta diversity, the average number of species shared by multiple sets of assemblages, and Dark diversity, the number of species that could occur in an assemblage but are missing, have been recently proposed to capture two aspects of the commonness‐rarity spectrum. Despite a shared focus on commonness and rarity, thus far, Zeta and Dark diversities have been assessed separately. Here, we review these two frameworks and suggest their integration into a unified paradigm of the “rarity facets of biodiversity.” This can be achieved by partitioning Alpha and Beta diversities into five components (the Zeta, Eta, Theta, Iota, and Kappa rarity facets) defined based on the commonness and rarity of species. Each facet is assessed in traditional and multiassemblage fashions to bridge conceptual differences between Dark diversity and Zeta diversity. We discuss applications of the rarity facets including comparing the taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity of rare and common species, or measuring species'' prevalence in different facets as a metric of species rarity. The rarity facets integrate two emergent paradigms in biodiversity science to better understand the ecology of commonness and rarity, an important endeavor in a time of widespread changes in biodiversity across the Earth.     

The freshwater zooplankton of Thailand (Rotifera and Crustacea)

A list is given of all zooplankton species hitherto reported from Thailand, based on the author's own observations and on the literature.From a comparison with the fauna of some neighbour countries, it appears that important gaps remain to be filled-in.     

大亚湾海域浮游动物生态特征

2004年3月(春季)、5月(夏季)、9月(秋季)和12月(冬季)4个航次对大亚湾海域浮游动物进行了调查。共计鉴定浮游动物128个种类,浮游幼体14个类群。浮游动物出现的种类数依次是:夏季(90种),秋季(81种),冬季(71种),春季(47种)。浮游动物的丰度以夏季最高,平均1013.38 ind.m-3;其次是秋季,平均913.30 ind.m-3;春季最低,平均162.37 ind.m-3。浮游动物生物量的季节变化:秋季(773.89 mg.m-3),夏季(472.82 mg.m-3),冬季(286.44 mg.m-3),春季(164.11 mg.m-3),生物量高低与种类组成关系密切,秋季优势类群为水母类和毛颚类等大型浮游动物,所以生物量较高。4个季节的Shannon-Wiener多样性指数H′值、物种均匀度指数J值和物种丰富度指数D值的变化趋势十分相似:春季的3项指数值均最低,冬季最高,夏、秋季节相差不大。此外,分析结果表明:毛颚类作为优势种且4个季节均有出现,是对大亚湾海域水体较20a前水温上升的响应;浮游动物近岸生物量高于湾中部;从丰度的平面分布看,大亚湾海域浮游动物栖息环境已经不同程度受到大型建设工程和人类活动的影响。     

长江口不同水域浮游动物数量特征比较

为了分析长江口浮游动物与环境的关系,从2004年到2006年分别于5月份(平水期)和8月份(枯水期)在长江口水域共设22个观测站进行6次海洋调查.结果显示:长江口浮游动物丰度8月份高于5月份,北支略大于南支,长江口口外大于口内. 在大多数情况下,5月份丰度近海略大于咸淡交错水域,8月份相反.长江口浮游动物丰度和分布具有不确定性,水团的季节变化,外海水和冲淡水交汇的位置是影响长江口浮游动物分布特征的重要因素.对长江口南支水域而言,5月份中华华哲水蚤(Sinocalanus sinensis), 8月份火腿许水蚤(Schmackeria poplesia)是最主要的优势种;咸淡交错水域和北支优势种种类较多,真刺唇角水蚤(Labidocera euchaeta)在5月份和8月份都是主要优势种,其次是小拟哲水蚤(Paracalanus parvus).针刺拟哲水蚤(Paracalanus aculeatus),背针胸刺水蚤(Centropages dorsispinatus),太平洋纺锤水蚤(Acartia pacifica)和火腿许水蚤仅为8月份的主要优势种.对近海而言,中华哲水蚤(Calanus sinicus)是主要的优势种,其次是五角水母(Muggiaea atlantica)和肥胖箭虫(Sagitta enflata).     

The chemistry and crustacean zooplankton of the Seewinkel pans: a review of recent conditions

A number of shallow pans was investigated between May 1982 and May 1985 in the Seewinkel region between Neusiedlersee and the Hungarian border. Chemical and zooplankton samples were obtained at three monthly intervals. Analyses indicated some changes during the past decades. Human activity has resulted in some changes to water chemistry and zooplankton composition in a few pans, and many smaller pans have now disappeared.     

Island biogeography, diversity and dominance of zooplankton in crater lakes on the Azores

In July and August 1988 samples of zooplankton were collected from 17 lakes on four islands. Five species of Cladocera, three species of Copepoda and 30 species of Rotifera were found. The maximum numbers of species in any one lake were four planktonic Cladocera, two Copepoda and seven planktonic Rotifera (with up to six additional non-planktonic species). The smallest, most distant island had fewer species than the largest island nearest to the mainland, but the number of species in each lake was determined more by the size of the lake than by its location. This results in the most distant island having lakes containing the same number of species as lakes of similar size on islands nearer to the mainland. The numbers of zooplankton species in each of these lakes are significantly lower than the world average, and the dominance ratios are significantly higher.     

Open water zooplankton communities in North African wetland lakes: the CASSARINA Project

Zooplankton (Copepoda, Cladocera, Ostracoda, Rotifera and Diptera larvae) in nine North African lakes was collected from open water areas over twenty months during 1997/99. The results were used to monitor changes in the pelagic micro-invertebrate fauna of these sites with the purpose of exploring diversity structure and regional species occurrences.The studied sites formed three distinct groups based on hydrology and water quality criteria: (i) acid water with no marine connection (Megene Chitane); (ii) alkaline freshwater/brackish with no marine connection (Merja Sidi Bou Rhaba and Merja Bokka); (iii) freshwater/brackish with marine connection (Merja Zerga, Lac de Korba, Garaet El Ichkeul and three Nile Delta lakes). However, cluster analysis of the zooplankton data alone indicated four groups with Korba being separated because of its prevalence of species tolerant of summer hypersalinity.The total regional zooplanktonic species richness found was 88 taxa and these were characterized by species tolerant of widely fluctuating environmental conditions. However, some recorded species were very rare for North African freshwaters (e.g. Alonella excisa, Leydigia quadrangularis and, Ilyocryptus sordidus) and generally indicate favourable environmental conditions of low salinity and temperature. The sites influenced by marine waters generally exhibited slightly lower numbers of species but which generally demonstrate cosmopolitan distributions. Distinct seasonal patterns in species distributions were more similar to those observed in European lakes rather than to those of lower latitudes sites.Zooplankton play a key role in maintaining aquatic ecosystem quality in the North African study lakes and the community distributions described for the late 20th century help set biodiversity base-line data for future studies. If the remaining wetland lakes in this region are to persist as important resources during the 21st century, they will need to be managed in a way that ensures that aquatic diversity is maintained.     

Contemporary state of the zooplankton in Lake Peipsi

L. Peipsi is one of the richest fish lakes in Europe. Planktivorous smelt dominates in the fish fauna. The abundance of zooplankton fluctuates between 43 600–2241 500 ind m^–3, with the average 974 000 ind m^–3, biomass ranges from 0,09–3,69 g m^–3, with the average 1,86 g m^–3. Since the 1960s the abundance of rotifers has risen considerably while the mean zooplankter weight (B/N) has decreased from 0.005 mg to 0.004 mg. Zooplankton production (herbivores 20.6, predators 1.8, whole zooplankton community 22.4 g C m^–2 per period between May and October) can be considered high. Predatory zooplankton eats on an average 50% of the production of herbivorous zooplankton; about 50% of the whole zooplankton production (P_{Filt + Pred}) reaches fishes. The production of herbivorous zooplankton constitutes 10.1% of primary production. This ratio indicates a direct relationship between zoo- and phytoplankton in the food chain; the detrital food chain seems of little importance. About 6% of phytoplankton energy reaches fishes. The transformation of energy in the food web is efficient. On the basis of zooplankton L. Peipsi can be considered a moderately eutrophic or meso-eutrophic lake.     

Timescales of population rarity and commonness in random environments

This is a mathematical study of the interactions between non-linear feedback (density dependence) and uncorrelated random noise in the dynamics of unstructured populations. The stochastic non-linear dynamics are generally complex, even when the deterministic skeleton possesses a stable equilibrium. There are three critical factors of the stochastic non-linear dynamics; whether the intrinsic population growth rate (lambda) is smaller than, equal to, or greater than 1; the pattern of density dependence at very low and very high densities; and whether the noise distribution has exponential moments or not. If lambda < 1, the population process is generally transient with escape towards extinction. When lambda > or = 1, our quantitative analysis of stochastic non-linear dynamics focuses on characterizing the time spent by the population at very low density (rarity), or at high abundance (commonness), or in extreme states (rarity or commonness). When lambda >1 and density dependence is strong at high density, the population process is recurrent: any range of density is reached (almost surely) in finite time. The law of time to escape from extremes has a heavy, polynomial tail that we compute precisely, which contrasts with the thin tail of the laws of rarity and commonness. Thus, even when lambda is close to one, the population will persistently experience wide fluctuations between states of rarity and commonness. When lambda = 1 and density dependence is weak at low density, rarity follows a universal power law with exponent -3/2. We provide some mathematical support for the numerical conjecture [Ferriere, R., Cazelles, B., 1999. Universal power laws govern intermittent rarity in communities of interacting species. Ecology 80, 1505-1521.] that the -3/2 power law generally approximates the law of rarity of 'weakly invading' species with lambda values close to one. Some preliminary results for the dynamics of multispecific systems are presented.     

乐清湾浮游动物的季节变动及摄食率

2002年8月、11月、2003年2月和5月,在乐清湾进行了4个航次生物、化学和水文等专业综合调查。根据采集的浮游动物样品的分析鉴定及海上现场实验结果,对浮游动物的群落组成、生物量、丰度、多样性指数的分布和季节变动及其浮游动物对浮游植物的摄食率进行研究。结果表明,乐清湾已鉴定的浮游动物有56属,75种,17类浮游幼体,主要可划分为4个生态类群,以近岸低盐类群为主,其优势种为真刺唇角水蚤Labidoceraeuchaeta、太平洋纺锤水蚤Acartiapacifica、驼背隆哲水蚤Acrocalanusgibber、中华假磷虾Pseudeuphausiasinica和百陶箭虫Sagittabedoti等,半咸水河口类群、暖水性外海种和广布种的种数相对较少。浮游动物生物量和丰度的平面分布趋势基本一致,有明显季节变化。2月份和5月份,浮游动物生物量和丰度,从湾顶向湾口呈逐渐增加趋势;8月份,生物量和丰度的分布与2月份、5月份的分布趋势不同,从湾顶向湾口,生物量和丰度逐渐降低;11月份,生物量和丰度的平面分布相对均匀。浮游动物种类多样性指数有明显的季节变化,其动态变化与浮游动物种数和丰度的变化一致。微型浮游动物对浮游植物存在摄食压力,且摄食率有季节变化,摄食率的变化在0.15~0.48d-1。