HORSÁK, Michal, Milan CHYTRÝ and Irena AXMANOVÁ. Exceptionally poor land snail fauna of central Yakutia (NE Russia): climatic and habitat determinants of species richness. Polar Biology. 2013, vol. 36, No 2, p. 185-191. ISSN 0722-4060. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00300-012-1249-5.
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Basic information
Original name Exceptionally poor land snail fauna of central Yakutia (NE Russia): climatic and habitat determinants of species richness
Authors HORSÁK, Michal (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution), Milan CHYTRÝ (203 Czech Republic, belonging to the institution) and Irena AXMANOVÁ (203 Czech Republic, belonging to the institution).
Edition Polar Biology, 2013, 0722-4060.
Other information
Original language English
Type of outcome Article in a journal
Field of Study 10600 1.6 Biological sciences
Country of publisher Netherlands
Confidentiality degree is not subject to a state or trade secret
WWW URL
Impact factor Impact factor: 2.071
RIV identification code RIV/00216224:14310/13:00066059
Organization unit Faculty of Science
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00300-012-1249-5
UT WoS 000313729400004
Keywords in English Terrestrial snails; Cold climate; Low diversity; Suitable shelters; Species accumulation; Climate harshness hypothesis
Tags AKR, rivok
Tags International impact, Reviewed
Changed by Changed by: prof. RNDr. Michal Horsák, Ph.D., učo 8803. Changed: 16/2/2018 16:55.
Abstract
There is an ongoing debate on the causes of the latitudinal diversity gradient, but diversity decline towards high latitudes is poorly documented for many invertebrate taxa. Therefore, we sampled land snail assemblages at 79 sites and in various habitat types in central Yakutia, a region with extremely continental, cool and dry climate. We tested whether habitats lacking suitable shelters for winter survival harbour less species than those with vegetation cover that softens climatic extremes. Both local species diversity and regional species diversity were extremely low: 13 species were recorded in total with an average of 1.4 species per site. While the majority of grassland sites were without snails (26 of 34 sites), forest sites supported at least one snail species in most cases (38 of 45 sites). Within grasslands, snail occurrences were associated with a higher herb-layer biomass. Numbers of snail species correlated with the amount of available calcium only in forests, in which species accumulation towards more favourable habitats was possible due to softening of climate harshness. As minute snails are known to be effective passive dispersers and the study area was not glaciated during the last glacial stage, there was certainly enough time for colonization of all favourable habitats. Our results suggest climatically driven limitations of both local and regional land snail diversity in central Yakutia. We conclude that the hypothesis of climate harshness remains the most probable explanation of a sharp drop in land snail diversity in high-latitude areas with cold climate.
Links
GAP504/11/0454, research and development projectName: Změny biodiverzity na přechodu pleistocénu a holocénu: současné analogie v reliktních ekosystémech Sibiře
Investor: Czech Science Foundation
GD526/09/H025, research and development projectName: Evolučně-ekologická analýza společenstev a populací
Investor: Czech Science Foundation, Evolutionary ecological analysis of communities and populations
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