Calling for a new strategy to measure environmental (habitat) diversity in Island Biogeography : a case study of Mediterranean tenebrionids (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae)

Fattorini, Simone; Dapporto, Leonardo; Strona, Giovanni; Borges, Paulo A. V.

Publication

Calling for a new strategy to measure environmental (habitat) diversity in Island Biogeography : a case study of Mediterranean tenebrionids (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae)

2015Journal article

dc.contributor.author	Fattorini, Simone
dc.contributor.author	Dapporto, Leonardo
dc.contributor.author	Strona, Giovanni
dc.contributor.author	Borges, Paulo A. V.
dc.date.accessioned	2018-02-19T17:02:46Z
dc.date.available	2018-02-19T17:02:46Z
dc.date.issued	2015
dc.date.updated	2015-08-01T11:14:56Z
dc.description.abstract	Many recent researches in island biogeography attempted to disentangle the effects of area per se and "habitat diversity" on species richness. However, the expression "habitat diversity" in this context should be avoided, because habitats can be only recognized by referring to the resources needed by a particular species. What is really measured in such researches is some form of “environmental heterogeneity”. Although habitat heterogeneity can be measured in various ways, most researches in island biogeography simply used the number of biotopes (typically classified as land cover categories). However, not all biotopes have the same surface.On the basis of the area occupied by each land cover category, it is possible to calculate indices of environmental diversity, evenness and dominance, as commonly done in community ecology research. These indices can be used to investigate the role of environmental diversity in determining species richness. We used the tenebrionid beetles inhabiting twenty-five small islands around Sicily (Central Mediterranean) to illustrate these concepts. We found that both area per se and environmental heterogeneity contributed to determine species richness. Moreover, we found that the relationship between species richness and environmental homogeneity followed a power function model. This indicates that environmental homogenization may determine a rapid, non linear decline in species richness.	en
dc.description.version	info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion	pt_PT
dc.identifier.citation	Fattorini, S.; Dapporto, L.; Strona, G.; Borges, P.A.V. (2015). Calling for a new strategy to measure environmental (habitat) diversity in Island Biogeography: a case study of Mediterranean tenebrionids (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae), “Fragmenta Entomologica”, 47(1): 1-14. DOI: 10.4081/fe.2015.129	pt_PT
dc.identifier.doi	10.4081/fe.2015.129	pt_PT
dc.identifier.issn	2284-4880
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10400.3/4586
dc.language.iso	eng	pt_PT
dc.peerreviewed	yes	pt_PT
dc.publisher	PAGEpress	pt_PT
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/	pt_PT
dc.subject	Diversity	en
dc.subject	Environmental Heterogeneity	en
dc.subject	Evenness	en
dc.subject	Habitat Hypothesis	en
dc.subject	Structural Equations	en
dc.subject	Sicily	en
dc.title	Calling for a new strategy to measure environmental (habitat) diversity in Island Biogeography : a case study of Mediterranean tenebrionids (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae)	en
dc.type	journal article
dspace.entity.type	Publication
oaire.citation.endPage	14	pt_PT
oaire.citation.issue	(1)	pt_PT
oaire.citation.startPage	1	pt_PT
oaire.citation.title	Fragmenta Entomologica	pt_PT
oaire.citation.volume	14	pt_PT
rcaap.rights	openAccess	pt_PT
rcaap.type	article	pt_PT