Abstract
Biodiversity follows distinct and observable patterns. Where two systems meet, biodiversity is often increased, due to overlapping occurrence ranges and the presence of specialized species that can tolerate the dynamic conditions of the transition zone. One of the most pronounced transition zones occurs at shores, where oceans and terrestrial habitat collide, forming the shore–inland transition zone. The relevance of this transition zone in shaping a system’s community structure is particularly pronounced on small islands due to their high shore-to-inland-area ratio. However, the community structure of insular faunas along this transition zone is unknown. Here, we investigated the diversity patterns along the beach–inland transition zone of small islands and tested the hypothesis that species diversity increases toward the transition zone where beach and interior habitat meet. By measuring environmental parameters, resource availability, and ground-associated macrofauna diversity along transects running across the beach–inland transition zone, we show that a gradual change in species composition from beach to the inland exists, but neither taxa richness, diversity, nor overall abundance changed significantly. These findings offer important insights into insular community structure at the transition zone from sea to land that are relevant to better understand the dynamic and unique characteristics of insular ecosystems.
Highlights
Understanding the drivers for species distribution and biodiversity patterns at different spatial scales is among the fundamental goals of ecological research [1]
The main factors shaping these global diversity gradients are temperature, habitat heterogeneity, and area, coupled with environmental stability, predictability, and productivity [3]. With some exceptions, these environmental factors allow for the prediction of overall species richness on large spatial scales in the terrestrial and aquatic environment [5]
This study investigated the environmental parameters and the diversity pattern of the ground-associated macrofauna community along thetransition beach–inland the ground-associated macrofauna community along the beach–inland zone transition of zone of small and remote tropical atoll islands
Summary
Understanding the drivers for species distribution and biodiversity patterns at different spatial scales is among the fundamental goals of ecological research [1]. Biodiversity changes with elevation and latitude [2]. The main factors shaping these global diversity gradients are temperature, habitat heterogeneity, and area, coupled with environmental stability, predictability, and productivity [3]. With some exceptions (e.g., in marine gastropods in the Southern Hemisphere [4]), these environmental factors allow for the prediction of overall species richness on large spatial scales in the terrestrial and aquatic environment [5]. A given environmental parameter does not determine the occurrence of all species in the same way. Different taxa adapt and respond differently to the same environmental parameter, resulting in idiosyncratic diversity patterns [6]
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