Assessing biogeographic patterns in the changes in soil invertebrate biodiversity due to acidic deposition
- Miami Univ., Oxford, OH (United States)
We are studying the response of soil faunal communities to a gradient in acidic deposition across midwestern hardwood forests. We have documented a pattern of population decrease and species loss for soil invertebrates along the acidification gradient. We now ask the following question: When confronted with apparent diversity changes along a region-wide pollution gradient, how can one assess the possibility of natural biogeographic gradients accounting for the pattern? As a first approximation, we use published range maps from taxonomic monographs to determine the percent of the regional fauna with ranges encompassing each site. For staphylinid beetles, range data show no sign of a biogeographic gradient. Yet for soil staphylinids, a large decrease is seen in alpha diversity (as species richness) from low to high acid dose sites (from 20 species to 8). Staphylinid species turnover is greatest in the transition from low to intermediate dose sites.
- OSTI ID:
- 107141
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9507129-; ISSN 0012-9623; TRN: 95:006512-0057
- Journal Information:
- Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, Vol. 76, Issue 3; Conference: 80. anniversary of the transdisciplinary nature of ecology, Snowbird, UT (United States), 30 Jul - 3 Aug 1995; Other Information: PBD: Sep 1995
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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