Regional enrichment of predacious water beetles in temporary ponds at opposite east–west ends of the Palearctic

Abstract

Regional and local species richness of temporary pond dytiscid water beetles were compared among three regions within the Palearctic: (1) Sweden in north west Europe, (2) Primorye and (3) Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East. Both local and regional species richness were highest in Sweden and lowest in Sakhalin. Regional species richness was calculated from literature and collecting data for each region and for nested parts of regions. Local species richness was estimated from standardized net samples from fourteen or fifteen ponds in each region. Two different rarefaction techniques applied to the net‐sample data confirmed the observed interregional differences in species richness. Partial least square regression showed that pond area, depth and temperature affected local species richness positively in each region, whereas increasing shade and drought frequency had negative effects. Residuals from the regression analysis were positive in Sweden, negative in Sakhalin, and near zero in Primorye ponds. Consequently, the local species richness was related positively to regional species richness also when compensated for differences in the local pond environment. This was verified when pond species richness of each region was correlated with principal component scores representing a combination of pond area, depth and temperature. The species’ distributions among ponds displayed significantly nested patterns in Sweden and Sakhalin. However, species were significantly sorted along the pond area gradient only in Sweden. It is concluded that the observed interregional differences in local species richness are best explained by the accompanying gradient in regional species richness, lending support to the hypothesis of regional enrichment. Selected historical and ecological explanations for the observed differences in regional species richness are discussed.

Macroinvertebrate community structure across a wetland hydroperiod gradient in southern New Hampshire, USA

“…Longer duration wetlands warmed faster in spring (canopy cover was generally absent or low in these wetlands) and maintained slightly higher temperatures (1-3°C). Temperature has also been shown to influence invertebrate species richness in the Paleartic (Kholin and Nilsson 1998), and in the boreal region (Nilsson and Svensson 1995). Likewise, dissolved oxygen is an important predictor of invertebrate community structure and low dissolved oxygen levels are known to limit aquatic invertebrate life (Eriksen et al 1996).…”

The relationship between wetland hydroperiod and nestedness patterns in assemblages of larval amphibians and predatory macroinvertebrates

“…In the wetlands studied, wetlands with longer hydroperiods warmed faster in spring, maintained slightly higher temperatures (1–3°C) throughout the wet period, and had higher dissolved oxygen levels (Babbitt et al 2003). Several studies have found strong positive correlations between invertebrate species richness and temperature (Nilsson and Svensson 1995, Kholin and Nilsson 1998) and invertebrate species richness and dissolved oxygen (Eriksen et al 1996). In this study system, the distribution of three of the six most widespread macroinvertebrates was directly and positively influenced by water temperature (Tarr et al in press).…”

The temporal dynamics of temporary pond macroinvertebrate communities over a 10-year period

“…comparing measures of effective distance in studies of genetic differentiation of Daphnia populations, Michels et al (2001), up to large scale landscape and temporal studies, e.g. regional diversity of water beetles across the palearctic influences diversity within individual ponds, Kholin and Nilsson, (1998). Ponds have long played a role in studies of community ecology, especially the interplay of local conditions and interactions within ponds versus the role of dispersal, colonisation and allied processes operating beyond the habitat itself, e.g.…”