Abstract
A total of 1290 specimens belonging to 11 species and four families were captured in two national parks, Bouhedma and Chambi. Among these species, seven belonged to Porcellionidae, and the remaining species represented Agnaridae, Armadillidae and Armadillidiidae families. Five species were common and recorded in both parks. However, Armadillidium tunisiense, Hemilepistus reaumurii and Porcellio djahizi were recorded only in Chambi while Agabiformius lentus, Armadillo officinalis and Porcellio albinus were collected only in Bouhedma. The distribution structure of the collected species was analyzed according to altitude and plant assemblages. Seasonal sampling showed that the highest abundance and species richness were recorded in spring. In both parks, the species richness decreased as the altitude increased. Arid regions sheltered specific species such as H. reaumurii and P. albinus, which were often the dominant component of the arthropod macrodecomposer guild in some habitats. The similarity analysis showed a quantitative and qualitative difference between the two parks. The two parks Bouhedma and Chambi shared five species (Leptotrichus panzerii, Porcellio laevis, P. variabilis, Porcellionides pruinosus, Armadillidium sulcatum) with areas studied in the north of Tunisia, Kroumirie, supralittoral zones and around the wetlands.
Highlights
The diversity of terrestrial isopod species is directly connected with the number of microhabitats, which allow the coexistence of several species (Lopes et al 2005)
In North Africa, while the diversity of terrestrial isopods in humid regions was studied in the past by Dollfus (1896), Gadeau De Kerville (1909), Arcangeli (1932), Zavattari (1934), Vandel (1956a,b, 1958a,b,c), Caruso and Di Maio (1990) and more recently the isopod fauna was studied through the MEDCORE project by Achouri et al (2008a), Colombini et al (2008), Charfi-Cheikhrouha and El
Analyzing the spatial variation data by nested ANOVA, we found that there were no statistically significant differences between habitats in overall species richness of isopods recorded in the two parks (F = 1.627, df = 16.28, p = 0.22)
Summary
The diversity of terrestrial isopod species is directly connected with the number of microhabitats, which allow the coexistence of several species (Lopes et al 2005). Terrestrial isopods, as members of the soil fauna, are expected to respond to environmental changes given their limited dispersal abilities. They are probably very sensitive to changes in soil chemical and physical properties (Paoletti & Hassall 1999), responding rapidly to environmental changes (Nakamura et al.2003). Knowledge of the isopod faunal richness of a region is one of the factors responsible for success in monitoring and conserving biodiversity (Lopes et al.2005). In North Africa, while the diversity of terrestrial isopods in humid regions was studied in the past by Dollfus (1896), Gadeau De Kerville (1909), Arcangeli (1932), Zavattari (1934), Vandel (1956a,b, 1958a,b,c), Caruso and Di Maio (1990) and more recently the isopod fauna was studied through the MEDCORE project by Achouri et al (2008a), Colombini et al (2008), Charfi-Cheikhrouha and El
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