Nestedness in centipede (Chilopoda) assemblages on continental islands (Aegean, Greece)

Abstract

In natural ecosystems, species assemblages among isolated ecological communities such as continental islands often show a nested pattern in which biotas of sites with low species richness are non-random subsets of biotas of richer sites. The distribution of centipede (Chilopoda) species in the central and south Aegean archipelago was tested for nestedness. To achieve this aim we used distribution data for 53 species collected on 24 continental Aegean islands (Kyklades and Dodekanisa). Based on the first-order jackknife estimator, most of islands were comprehensively surveyed. In order to quantify nestedness, we used the nestedness temperature calculator (NTC) as well as the nestedness metric based on overlap and decreasing Fill (NODF). NTC indicated that data exhibited a high degree of nestedness in the central and south Aegean island complexes. As far as the Kyklades and Dodekanisa are concerned, NTC showed less nested centipede structures than the 24 islands. Likewise, NODF revealed a significant degree of nestedness in central and south Aegean islands. It also showed that biotas matrices without singletons were more nested than the complete ones (Aegean, Kyklades and Dodekanisa). The two commonest centipede taxa (lithobiomorphs and geophilomorphs) contributed differently to centipede assemblages. In the Kyklades and Dodekanisa, geophilomorphs did not show a reliable nested arrangement unlike lithobiomorphs. In relation to the entire data set, nestedness was positively associated with the degree of isolation. In the Kyklades altitudinal range best explained nestedness patterns, while in Dodekanisa habitat heterogeneity proved to be more important for the centipede communities. Island area does not seem to be a significant explanatory variable. Some of our results from the Kyklades were critically compared with those for terrestrial isopod and land snail nested assemblages from the same geographical area. The complex geological and palaeogeographical history of the Aegean archipelago partly accounted for the pattern of centipede assemblages.