Testing the validity of the species-area curve: invertebrate diversity in freshwater ponds.
Carlson, Nels; Clark, Abby; Richmond, Hillary; Segerlind, Sarah
2004
Abstract
The total number of species supported by a habitat is one of the most fundamental ecological characteristics of any system. The increase in species diversity with habitat size is known as the species-area relationship; however, underlying explanations for this relationship are not completely understood. The purpose of this study was to determine whether macroinvertebrate species diversity in northern Michigan ponds exhibits a classic species-area curve. We sampled several ponds near Douglas Lake and compared the number of macroinvertebrate taxa found with area and other abiotic factors. Our data did not show a statistically significant correlation between species and area (p=0.1825). However, a trend was observed between species richness and the water volume (p=0.0928) of the sites sampled. Factors such as habitat diversity, seasonality and ease of macroinvertebrate dispersal may reduce the influence of area on species richness in ponds.Subjects
General Ecology
Types
Working Paper
Metadata
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