Latitudinal biodiversity patterns of meiofauna from sandy littoral beaches |
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| Authors: | Lech Kotwicki Maria Szymelfenig Marleen De Troch Barbara Urban-Malinga Jan Marcin Węsławski |
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| Institution: | (1) Center for Ecological Research PAS, Konopnickiej 1, Dziekanow Lesny, 05-092 Lomianki, Poland;(2) University of Gdansk, Pilsudskiego 46, 81-378 Gdynia, Poland;(3) Biology Department, Marine Biology Section, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281/S8, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium;(4) Institute of Oceanology PAS, Powstancow Warszawy 55, 81-712 Sopot, Poland;(5) Center for Ecological Research PAS, Konopnickiej 1, Dziekanow Lesny, 05-092 Lomianki, Poland |
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| Abstract: | Meiofaunal samples from arctic (Bear Island, Franz Josef Land, Hopen, Kolguev), temperate (Baltic Sea, North Sea), subtropical (Tunisia, Greece), tropical (Emirates, Ghana) and antarctic sandy beaches were collected at the medium water mark. The highest average meiofaunal density was found in the temperate zone (1300 individuals 10 cm–2) and the lowest in both polar regions: in arctic (79 individuals 10 cm–2) and in antarctic (35 individuals 10 cm–2) samples. Nematodes dominated the meiofauna community in warm regions, while turbellarians were more common in cold water regions. Sixteen higher taxa were recorded in tropical sites, while only eight taxa were observed in the sampled cold regions. This difference was mainly due to the presence of small specimens of macrofauna in the tropics. When only  true meiofauna higher taxa were compared, no latitudinal trends were found. |
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| Keywords: | Biodiversity Latitudinal gradient Meiofauna Sandy beaches |
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