Mite and insect zonation on a Marion Island rocky shore: a quantitative approach

Mercer, R. D.; Chown, Steven L.; Marshall, David J.

doi:10.1007/s003000000151

Cited by 25 publications

(25 citation statements)

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“…The other epilithic biotope habitats that were sampled were those found on a gently sloping, unbroken rocky shore. Five distinct shore zones (three littoral and two supralittoral, habitats 13Ð17 in Table 1) were distinguished, based on distance from the high water mark, and the type of algal or lichen cover present (see de Villiers 1976, Mercer et al 2000.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Habitat Specificity of Mites on Sub-Antarctic Marion Island

et al. 2002

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…SimpliÞed habitat descriptions have been modiÞed from de Villiers (1976), Gremmen (1981), Smith (1987), Hänel (1999), and Mercer et al (2000). , and 20 per sampling month from the high-altitude mire (n ϭ 120).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat Specificity of Mites on Sub-Antarctic Marion Island

et al. 2002

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“…Certain terrestrial arthropods are also limited to areas close to the coast, often being found only in supralittoral locations, and other species of mite and springtail are only known from the intertidal zone (Mercer et al 2000, Marshall and Convey 2004, Waller et al 2006). …”

Section: Nutrientsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The spatial structure of Antarctic biodiversity

Convey

Chown

Clarke

et al. 2014

Ecological Monographs

293

289

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Patterns of environmental spatial structure lie at the heart of the most fundamental and familiar patterns of diversity on Earth. Antarctica contains some of the strongest environmental gradients on the planet and therefore provides an ideal study ground to test hypotheses on the relevance of environmental variability for biodiversity. To answer the pivotal question, “How does spatial variation in physical and biological environmental properties across the Antarctic drive biodiversity?” we have synthesized current knowledge on environmental variability across terrestrial, freshwater, and marine Antarctic biomes and related this to the observed biotic patterns. The most important physical driver of Antarctic terrestrial communities is the availability of liquid water, itself driven by solar irradiance intensity. Patterns of biota distribution are further strongly influenced by the historical development of any given location or region, and by geographical barriers. In freshwater ecosystems, free water is also crucial, with further important influences from salinity, nutrient availability, oxygenation, and characteristics of ice cover and extent. In the marine biome there does not appear to be one major driving force, with the exception of the oceanographic boundary of the Polar Front. At smaller spatial scales, ice cover, ice scour, and salinity gradients are clearly important determinants of diversity at habitat and community level. Stochastic and extreme events remain an important driving force in all environments, particularly in the context of local extinction and colonization or recolonization, as well as that of temporal environmental variability. Our synthesis demonstrates that the Antarctic continent and surrounding oceans provide an ideal study ground to develop new biogeographical models, including life history and physiological traits, and to address questions regarding biological responses to environmental variability and change.

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“…The flora and fauna of the island have been subject to prolonged and intensive study (41)(42)(43)(44)(45)(46)(47). This study has culminated in a 4-year (1996-1999) survey of the invertebrate assemblages associated with each of the broad land types, with replicated standardized field sampling conducted continuously for periods of a year or more in each type (48)(49)(50). This study has resulted in a remarkably full understanding of the composition of the fauna.…”

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

The animal species–body size distribution of Marion Island

Gaston

Chown

Mercer

2001

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Body size is one of the most significant features of animals. Not only is it correlated with many life history and ecological traits, but it also may influence the abundance of species within, and their membership of, assemblages. Understanding of the latter processes is frequently based on a comparison of model outcomes with the frequency of species of different body mass within natural assemblages. Consequently, the form of these frequency distributions has been much debated. Empirical data usually concern taxonomically delineated groups, such as classes or orders, whereas the processes ultimately apply to whole assemblages. Here, we report the most complete animal species-body size distribution to date for those free-living species breeding on sub-Antarctic Marion Island and using the terrestrial environment. Extending over 15 orders of magnitude of variation in body mass, this distribution is bimodal, with separate peaks for invertebrates and vertebrates. Under logarithmic transformation, the distribution for vertebrates is not significantly skewed, whereas that for invertebrates is right-skewed. Contrary to expectation based on a fractal or pseudofractal environmental structure, the decline in the richness of species at the smallest body sizes is a real effect and not a consequence of unrecorded species or of species introductions to the island. The scarcity of small species might well be a consequence of their large geographic ranges.

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Mite and insect zonation on a Marion Island rocky shore: a quantitative approach

Cited by 25 publications

References 0 publications

Habitat Specificity of Mites on Sub-Antarctic Marion Island

Habitat Specificity of Mites on Sub-Antarctic Marion Island

The spatial structure of Antarctic biodiversity

The animal species–body size distribution of Marion Island

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