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Consistent habitat use across biogeographic gradients

Wellenreuther, Maren LU ; Syms, C and Clements, Kendall D (2008) In Ecography 31(1). p.84-94
Abstract
Biogeographic gradients may facilitate divergent evolution between populations of the same species, leading to geographic variation and possibly reproductive isolation. Previous work has shown that New Zealand triplefin species (family Tripterygiidae) have diversified in habitat use, however, knowledge about the consistency of this pattern throughout their geographic range is lacking. Here we examine the spatial habitat associations of 15 New Zealand triplefin species at nine locations on a latitudinal gradient from 35°50′S to 46°70′S to establish whether distant populations differ in habitat use. Triplefin diversity and density varied between locations, as did habitat variables such as percentage cover of the substratum, onshore-offshore... (More)
Biogeographic gradients may facilitate divergent evolution between populations of the same species, leading to geographic variation and possibly reproductive isolation. Previous work has shown that New Zealand triplefin species (family Tripterygiidae) have diversified in habitat use, however, knowledge about the consistency of this pattern throughout their geographic range is lacking. Here we examine the spatial habitat associations of 15 New Zealand triplefin species at nine locations on a latitudinal gradient from 35°50′S to 46°70′S to establish whether distant populations differ in habitat use. Triplefin diversity and density varied between locations, as did habitat variables such as percentage cover of the substratum, onshore-offshore location, microposition, depth and exposure. Canonical discriminant analysis identified specific species-habitat combinations, and when habitat was statistically partialled from location, most species exhibited consistent habitat associations throughout their range. However, the density of a few species at some locations was lower or higher than expected given the habitat availability. This indicates that the habitat variables recorded were not the sole predictors of assemblage structure, and it is likely that factors influencing larval dispersal (e.g. the low salinity layer in Fiordland and geographic isolation of the Three Kings Islands) play an additional role in structuring assemblage composition. Together these results suggest that New Zealand triplefin species show strong and consistent habitat use across potential biogeographical barriers, but this pattern appears to be modified by variation in larval supply and survival. This indicates that species with broad geographic distributions do not necessarily show phenotypic variation between populations. (Less)
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author
; and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Ecography
volume
31
issue
1
pages
84 - 94
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • scopus:39549113736
ISSN
1600-0587
DOI
10.1111/j.2007.0906-7590.05270.x
language
English
LU publication?
no
additional info
1
id
bfa24ec0-e705-4a4f-8084-7503e91dc6fa (old id 1963538)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 14:32:45
date last changed
2022-01-28 01:13:50
@article{bfa24ec0-e705-4a4f-8084-7503e91dc6fa,
  abstract     = {{Biogeographic gradients may facilitate divergent evolution between populations of the same species, leading to geographic variation and possibly reproductive isolation. Previous work has shown that New Zealand triplefin species (family Tripterygiidae) have diversified in habitat use, however, knowledge about the consistency of this pattern throughout their geographic range is lacking. Here we examine the spatial habitat associations of 15 New Zealand triplefin species at nine locations on a latitudinal gradient from 35°50′S to 46°70′S to establish whether distant populations differ in habitat use. Triplefin diversity and density varied between locations, as did habitat variables such as percentage cover of the substratum, onshore-offshore location, microposition, depth and exposure. Canonical discriminant analysis identified specific species-habitat combinations, and when habitat was statistically partialled from location, most species exhibited consistent habitat associations throughout their range. However, the density of a few species at some locations was lower or higher than expected given the habitat availability. This indicates that the habitat variables recorded were not the sole predictors of assemblage structure, and it is likely that factors influencing larval dispersal (e.g. the low salinity layer in Fiordland and geographic isolation of the Three Kings Islands) play an additional role in structuring assemblage composition. Together these results suggest that New Zealand triplefin species show strong and consistent habitat use across potential biogeographical barriers, but this pattern appears to be modified by variation in larval supply and survival. This indicates that species with broad geographic distributions do not necessarily show phenotypic variation between populations.}},
  author       = {{Wellenreuther, Maren and Syms, C and Clements, Kendall D}},
  issn         = {{1600-0587}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{84--94}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Ecography}},
  title        = {{Consistent habitat use across biogeographic gradients}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.2007.0906-7590.05270.x}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/j.2007.0906-7590.05270.x}},
  volume       = {{31}},
  year         = {{2008}},
}