Aggregate patterns of macrofaunal diversity: An interocean comparison

摘要: Aim While geographical patterns of species richness are reasonably well explored for single well-studied taxa, less is known about aggregate total major biomes and their environmental correlates. Here we analyse continental-scale macrofaunal diversity sandy beaches, a dominant habitat along the Atlantic Pacific coasts South America. Location South American coastlines. Time period Present day (data amassed from studies performed since 1971). Major taxa studied Benthic macrofauna, including crustaceans, polychaetes molluscs. Methods We compiled information all groups on 263 beaches in America using standard criteria. We further matched these data with variables sea surface temperature (SST), chlorophyll a, grain size, beach slope, tide range various morphometrics. used generalized linear mixed models to relate factors observed variation across testing competing hypotheses correlates possible drivers latitudinal diversity. Results Macrofaunal decreased tropical temperate followed parabolic trend Atlantic, highest biodiversity found at mid-latitudinal bands. Beach tidal mostly explained trends richness, by SST ocean basin. Main conclusions This study indicates that given most closely related characteristics physical habitat, such as area size. At this scale, planktonic food supply also appeared be more important than temperature, which explanatory variable global-scale richness.