Patterns of butterfly distribution in the Andaman islands: implications for conservation

Devy, M. Soubadra; Ganesh, T.; Davidar, Priya

doi:10.1016/s1146-609x(99)80007-1

Cited by 18 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…In North Andamans, wet forests are confined to the large North Andaman island. Wet forests in the Andamans are probably reservoirs of many habitat specialists (Devy et al ., 1998; Yoganand & Davidar, 2000). Butterfly distributions in the Andamans are also strongly influenced by wet forests (Devy et al ., 1998).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Andaman biota have strong affinities with that of the Malay peninsula where wet forests are the predominant vegetation type (Ripley & Beehler, 1989; Whitmore, 1990). Therefore wet forests are probably the primary habitat for many species (Devy et al ., 1998; Yoganand & Davidar, 2000).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is in contrast to the pattern recorded in the Nicobars where the islands are more scattered and isolated (Sankaran, 1997). The Little Andaman island which is a large, isolated island also could contribute to geographical isolation and speciation, and there are indications that this is so with regard to butterflies (Devy et al ., 1998).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent work has shown that habitat diversity and the availability of particular habitat types might be important in determining the species richness of Aegean land snails (Welter‐Schultes & Williams, 1999). The occurrence of wet forests on islands significantly influenced butterfly distributions in the Andaman islands (Devy et al ., 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Distribution of forest birds in the Andaman islands: importance of key habitats

Davidar

Yoganand

Ganesh

2001

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim The aim of this study was to assess the influence of island area, distance to source pool, latitude, habitat diversity and habitat type on species richness of forest birds in the Andaman islands. Location The Andaman islands (India) in the Bay of Bengal. Methods The distributions of 47 species of forest birds were surveyed on 45 islands in the Andaman islands across a latitudinal gradient. The size of the island and distance to the nearest large island were assessed on a satellite image of 1 : 250,000 scale. The number and types of habitats and the species richness of birds on each island were recorded during a field survey. The effects of the variables measured on the species richness of forest birds were assessed using regression analyses. The best fit models were selected for interpretation of the results. Separate analyses were conducted with selected islands to eliminate the effects of latitude and to control the effects of area and habitat diversity. Results The number of species of forest birds was strongly influenced by island area and habitat diversity. However the key determinant of species richness was habitat type, particularly the presence of wet forests. Wet forests, either semi‐evergreen or evergreen tropical forests are more common towards the southern islands and are usually restricted to larger islands. Main conclusions Area, habitat diversity and the presence of wet forests on islands significantly influenced species richness of forest birds. The wet forests maintain the biodiversity of the Andamans and should be regarded as a ‘keystone habitat’. This is probably because wet forests are species rich and also because the Andaman biota has affinities with that of the Malay peninsula where wet forests predominate. Therefore biogeographical history probably plays an important role in influencing biodiversity at a regional scale.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Distribution of forest birds in the Andaman islands: importance of key habitats

Davidar

Yoganand

Ganesh

2001

Journal of Biogeography

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“…Habitat requirements and the biological knowledge on the species to be conserved have been acknowledged as necessary for the effective application of island biogeography theory to conservation (Zimmerman and Bierregaard, 1986;Devy et al, 1998, Whittaker, 1998. According to Devy et al (1998) "for the conservation and management of biodiversity, especially in island ecosystems, the effects of area and habitat characteristics in influencing species numbers need to be determined".…”

Section: S O L V E T H E P R O B L Em a T I Cu S Eo Ft H E C O N C E mentioning

confidence: 99%

Area and habitat relationships in island land snail faunas: an Aegean case study exploring the choros model

Triantis¹,

Vardinoyannis²,

Mylonas³

2005

Rec West Aust Mus Sup

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-In the present paper we study the biogeography of land snails in the Skyros archipelago (central Aegean) using both conventional species-area analysis and the newly-developed choros model. The choros model is a simple mathematical relationship, which analyses species richness as a function of area and of environmental heterogeneity, quantified by assessing the number of defined habitats present on each island. We surveyed land snails on 12 islands of the archipelago of Skyros in the central Aegean Sea (Greece). The different types of habitats were defined based on the ecology and biology of each species distributed in the archipelago. Forty-two land snail species were recorded living in 11 different habitat types. The z-values from both models, the choros and the classic species-area relationship, place the archipelago in the "within biogeographic province" category, mainly due to the recent formation of the archipelago. This recent formation resulted in a group of small islands still behaving as parts of a continuous landmass. The recorded extinction of land snails in the archipelago follows the general pattern of extinctions of this animal group in the Aegean area. The choros model gave a better fit to the data than the classic species-area model, indicating that the range of habitats available plays a significant role in determining faunal diversity independently of area. The availability of knowledge on the ecology of each species in most islands of the Aegean enabled us to recognise the key environmental features on which we based the definition of the habitat types. Such background knowledge is essential if island studies are to progress beyond the simple demonstration of a species! area relationship.

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Species–area relationships in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands emerge because rarer species are disproportionately favored on larger islands

Gooriah

Davidar

Chase

2020

Ecology and Evolution

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The island species–area relationship (ISAR) describes how the number of species increases with increasing size of an island (or island‐like habitat), and is of fundamental importance in island biogeography and conservation. Here, we use a framework based on individual‐based rarefaction to infer whether ISARs result from passive sampling, or whether some processes are acting beyond sampling (e.g., disproportionate effects and/or habitat heterogeneity). Using data on total and relative abundances of four taxa (birds, butterflies, amphibians, and reptiles) from multiple islands in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, we examine how different metrics of biodiversity (total species richness, rarefied species richness, and abundance‐weighted effective numbers of species emphasizing common species) vary with island area. Total species richness increased for all taxa, as did rarefied species richness controlling for a given sampling effort. This indicates that the ISAR did not result because of passive sampling, but that instead, some species were disproportionately favored on larger islands. For birds, frogs, and lizards, this disproportionate effect was only associated with species that were rarer in the samples, but for butterflies, both more common and rarer species were affected. Furthermore, for the two taxa for which we had plot‐level data (reptiles and amphibians), within‐island β‐diversity did not increase with island size, suggesting that within‐island compositional effects were unlikely to be driving these ISARs. Overall, our results indicate that the ISARs of these taxa are most likely driven by disproportionate effects, that is, where larger islands are important sources of biodiversity beyond a simple sampling expectation, especially through their influence on rarer species, thus emphasizing their role in the preservation and conservation of species.

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Patterns of butterfly distribution in the Andaman islands: implications for conservation

Cited by 18 publications

References 6 publications

Distribution of forest birds in the Andaman islands: importance of key habitats

Distribution of forest birds in the Andaman islands: importance of key habitats

Area and habitat relationships in island land snail faunas: an Aegean case study exploring the choros model

Species–area relationships in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands emerge because rarer species are disproportionately favored on larger islands

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