The freshwater diaptomid copepod fauna (Crustacea: Copepoda: Diaptomidae) of the Western Ghats of Maharashtra with notes on distribution, species richness and ecology

Ann. Limnol. - Int. J. Lim.

Ghate³

2019

We studied faunistic and ecological factors influencing distributions of aquatic beetles in the Northern Western Ghats (NWG) of India. In the period 2013–2017, we collected 213 samples from 105 localities within the area and obtained 66 species, the majority of which belong to Dytiscidae. Relative occurrence based on incidence data revealed that dytiscid water beetle Laccophilus inefficiens as the most widespread species. Non-parametric richness estimators Chao2, Jackknife1 and Bootstrap showed that 70–80% of the fauna was covered in the sampling efforts from different types of freshwater habitats. Sample-based rarefaction suggested that more sampling efforts within the region can yield additional species. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) revealed that altitude, salinity, hydroperiod and depth influenced the distribution of aquatic beetles. Further, CCA also revealed habitat preference and co-occurrence of various aquatic beetle species. For instance, while co-occurring species under Laccophilinae and Hydroporinae were eurytopic, other co-occurring species Clypeodytes hemani, Microdytes sabitae and Lacconectus lambai were restricted to temporary habitats. Multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) showed a strong association between altitudinal classes and species distribution where many species were restricted within a particular altitudinal gradient. For example, M. sabitae, C. hemani, Hygrotus nilghiricus, L. lambai and Rhantus taprobanicus with classes 900–1199 and 1200–1499 while Hyphydrus flavicans, Laccophilus ceylonicus, Lacconectus andrewesi, Sternolophus inconspicuus and Canthydrus laetabilis with the class 300–599. The present work on aquatic beetles is the first attempt to study the influence of environmental factors on species diversity and distribution in the Northern Western Ghats of India.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors affecting aquatic beetle communities of Northern Western Ghats of India (Arthropoda: Insecta: Coleoptera)

Sheth

Ann. Limnol. - Int. J. Lim.

Ghate³

2019

“…As a result, some species also establish prevalently flightless populations in these rock pools. Rich invertebrate communities have been reported from these habitats (Kulkarni & Pai, 2016; Padhye & Dahanukar, 2015; Padhye & Victor, 2015; Shinde et al, 2014). Hydroperiod seems to drive the variation in community composition of passive dispersers in these habitats, and the metacommunity is shaped mainly by species replacements between assemblages (Kulkarni et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flight polymorphism drives metacommunity structure of aquatic Heteroptera in tropical rock pools

Paripatyadar

2020

Int Rev Hydrobiol

Rock pool metacommunities are shaped by the dispersal ability of organisms, which together with environmental heterogeneity, determine whether the metacommunity is structured more by environmental or spatial factors. To understand the effect of interspecific differences in dispersal capacity on beta diversity patterns and metacommunity structure, we studied aquatic Heteroptera (an actively dispersing insect group with species exhibiting flight polymorphism) in the rock pools on three outcrops in the Western Ghats, India. We used an abundance-based gamma diversity partitioning framework to assess the percent contributions of similarity (S) and the decompositions of beta diversity-abundance difference (D) and abundance replacement (R) to community structure for two mobility groups, that is, flying and flightless species. We compared the variation in beta diversity components "D" and "R" within and between outcrops for both mobility groups. We also studied the effects of the local environment on both mobility groups using redundancy analysis. Percent contributions of "S", "D" and "R" changed according to the mobility group, with higher nestedness (S+D) in flying species (74.2%) and higher beta diversity (R+D) in flightless species (76.3%). There was a significant variation in overall beta diversity between outcrops for the respective mobility groups, caused by abundance difference for flying species (p = .003) and by abundance replacement for flightless species (p = .003). Flying and flightless species were not associated with different environmental variables. Our study demonstrates that dispersal capacity is responsible for structuring regional diversity, with distinct sources of dissimilarity being associated with each mobility group: Abundance replacements between assemblages imposed by dispersal limitation for flightless species and abundance differences in assemblages of flying species, which might reflect the carrying capacity of the habitats.

“…Yet, this region is interesting for biogeography because of i) a complex geological history; ii) a wide range of altitudes; and iii) a strong seasonality with a distinct rainfall season (Monsoon) (Mani, 1974;Briggs, 2003). This has allowed the formation of various biomes, ranging from tropical to Alpine forests and deserts (Mani, 1974) resulting in a combination of endemic, Oriental, Palaearctic as well as Gondwanan biota (Gower et al, 2002;Whatley and Bajpai, 2006;Koehler and Glaubrecht, 2007;Kulkarni and Pai, 2016). Their presence has been explained by hypotheses like the 'Indian raft' and 'Out of Asia into India' (Chatterjee and Scotese, 1999;Karanth, 2003), but relevance of such scenarios for passively dispersed zooplankton is uncertain.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biogeography of the ‘water flea’ Daphnia O. F. Müller (Crustacea: Branchiopoda: Anomopoda) on the Indian subcontinent

Kotov

Dahanukar³

et al. 2016

J Limnol