Species size distributions in Arctic benthic communities
In most subtidal soft-sediment faunal assemblages there is a trough in the species size distribution separating the macrofauna and meiofauna. To examine the hypothesis that this may be maintained by the avoidance of competition between macrofaunal adults and settling larvae, samples were taken from...
| Published in: | Polar Biology |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Springer-Verlag
1997
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1007/PL00013381 https://researchportal.murdoch.edu.au/esploro/outputs/journalArticle/Species-size-distributions-in-Arctic-benthic/991005540545707891 |
| Summary: | In most subtidal soft-sediment faunal assemblages there is a trough in the species size distribution separating the macrofauna and meiofauna. To examine the hypothesis that this may be maintained by the avoidance of competition between macrofaunal adults and settling larvae, samples were taken from around Svalbard, an area where most macrofaunal species have either lecithotrophic or direct development. At three contrasting sites, bimodality of the species size spectrum was conserved. However, it is proposed that the adult-larval interaction hypothesis should not be rejected as low endemism in the fauna of the study area suggests its species size spectrum probably reflects evolutionary processes outside rather than within the Arctic. |
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