Species size distributions in Arctic benthic communities |
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Authors: | Michael A Kendall R M Warwick P J Somerfield |
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Institution: | (1) Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth, Devon, PL1 3DH, UK, GB |
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Abstract: | In most subtidal soft-sediment faunal assemblages there is a trough in the species size distribution separating the macrofauna
and meiofauna. To examine the hypothesis that this may be maintained by the avoidance of competition between macrofaunal adults
and settling larvae, samples were taken from around Svalbard, an area where most macrofaunal species have either lecithotrophic
or direct development. At three contrasting sites, bimodality of the species size spectrum was conserved. However, it is proposed
that the adult-larval interaction hypothesis should not be rejected as low endemism in the fauna of the study area suggests
its species size spectrum probably reflects evolutionary processes outside rather than within the Arctic.
Received: 13 May 1996/Accepted: 26 July 1996 |
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