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Distributional Patterns of Aquatic Empididae (Diptera) along an Elevational Diversity Gradient in a Low Mountain Range: An Example from Central Europe

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The insect distribution and diversity depend on many different abiotic and biotic factors, which is especially well documented in the high mountains but has not been studied in detail in the low mountain massifs. We studied 17 different macro and microhabitat factors that influence t...

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Autores principales: Słowińska, Iwona, Jaskuła, Radomir
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7918972/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33671885
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects12020165
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author Słowińska, Iwona
Jaskuła, Radomir
author_facet Słowińska, Iwona
Jaskuła, Radomir
author_sort Słowińska, Iwona
collection PubMed
description SIMPLE SUMMARY: The insect distribution and diversity depend on many different abiotic and biotic factors, which is especially well documented in the high mountains but has not been studied in detail in the low mountain massifs. We studied 17 different macro and microhabitat factors that influence the altitudinal distribution of 40 Hemerodromiinae and Clinocerinae species in the Pieniny Mts., Poland. This is the first such study in Central Europe and one of only a few in the world. The results clearly show that species richness and distribution of Hemerodromiinae and Clinocerinae species are changing with the elevational gradient, with a monotonic decline in species richness with increasing elevation observed for the first subfamily and the hump-shaped distribution pattern noted for the second subfamily, as well as the size of the stream/river and the surrounding area in species distribution in the Pieniny Mts. ABSTRACT: The two subfamilies Hemerodromiinae and Clinocerinae, also known as aquatic dance flies, are a group of small predatory insects occurring mainly in mountainous areas and the northern temperate. However, very little is known about distribution patterns for most of the species. Habitat preferences for 40 aquatic empidid species were analysed in the Pieniny Mts., Poland. Forty-six sampling sites from a major part of this relatively low mountain massif (400–770 m) were chosen, for which 17 micro and macrohabitat environmental variables were measured including both abiotic (altitude, stream mean width and depth, and shading) and biotic factors (13 dominant plant communities). Here we show that numerous studied aquatic Empididae were characterized by unique habitat preferences and were restricted to the foothills or the lower montane zone with only a few species characterized by wider elevational distribution. Chelifera pectinicauda, C. flavella, C. subangusta and Phyllodromia melanocephala (Hemerodromiinae), and Clinocera appendiculata, C. fontinalis, C. wesmaeli, Dolichocephala guttata, D. oblongoguttata, Kowarzia plectrum, Wiedemannia jazdzewskii, and W. thienemanni (Clinocerinae) were clearly associated with the highest altitudes and shaded areas while W. bistigma, W. lamellata, W. phantasma, and W. tricuspidata (Clinocerinae) were clearly associated with the lower elevated, wider stream valleys overgrown by willow brakes. Species richness and diversity decreased along elevational gradient with the hump-shaped diversity pattern noted for the subfamily Clinocerinae. The altitude, size of river/stream as well as the type of plant community were found as the most important factors in the distribution of the studied aquatic empidid species. The present study is the first one focused on elevational diversity gradient and habitat preferences of Hemerodromiinae and Clinocerinae of central Europe, and one of only a few in the world.
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spelling pubmed-79189722021-03-02 Distributional Patterns of Aquatic Empididae (Diptera) along an Elevational Diversity Gradient in a Low Mountain Range: An Example from Central Europe Słowińska, Iwona Jaskuła, Radomir Insects Article SIMPLE SUMMARY: The insect distribution and diversity depend on many different abiotic and biotic factors, which is especially well documented in the high mountains but has not been studied in detail in the low mountain massifs. We studied 17 different macro and microhabitat factors that influence the altitudinal distribution of 40 Hemerodromiinae and Clinocerinae species in the Pieniny Mts., Poland. This is the first such study in Central Europe and one of only a few in the world. The results clearly show that species richness and distribution of Hemerodromiinae and Clinocerinae species are changing with the elevational gradient, with a monotonic decline in species richness with increasing elevation observed for the first subfamily and the hump-shaped distribution pattern noted for the second subfamily, as well as the size of the stream/river and the surrounding area in species distribution in the Pieniny Mts. ABSTRACT: The two subfamilies Hemerodromiinae and Clinocerinae, also known as aquatic dance flies, are a group of small predatory insects occurring mainly in mountainous areas and the northern temperate. However, very little is known about distribution patterns for most of the species. Habitat preferences for 40 aquatic empidid species were analysed in the Pieniny Mts., Poland. Forty-six sampling sites from a major part of this relatively low mountain massif (400–770 m) were chosen, for which 17 micro and macrohabitat environmental variables were measured including both abiotic (altitude, stream mean width and depth, and shading) and biotic factors (13 dominant plant communities). Here we show that numerous studied aquatic Empididae were characterized by unique habitat preferences and were restricted to the foothills or the lower montane zone with only a few species characterized by wider elevational distribution. Chelifera pectinicauda, C. flavella, C. subangusta and Phyllodromia melanocephala (Hemerodromiinae), and Clinocera appendiculata, C. fontinalis, C. wesmaeli, Dolichocephala guttata, D. oblongoguttata, Kowarzia plectrum, Wiedemannia jazdzewskii, and W. thienemanni (Clinocerinae) were clearly associated with the highest altitudes and shaded areas while W. bistigma, W. lamellata, W. phantasma, and W. tricuspidata (Clinocerinae) were clearly associated with the lower elevated, wider stream valleys overgrown by willow brakes. Species richness and diversity decreased along elevational gradient with the hump-shaped diversity pattern noted for the subfamily Clinocerinae. The altitude, size of river/stream as well as the type of plant community were found as the most important factors in the distribution of the studied aquatic empidid species. The present study is the first one focused on elevational diversity gradient and habitat preferences of Hemerodromiinae and Clinocerinae of central Europe, and one of only a few in the world. MDPI 2021-02-15 /pmc/articles/PMC7918972/ /pubmed/33671885 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects12020165 Text en © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Słowińska, Iwona
Jaskuła, Radomir
Distributional Patterns of Aquatic Empididae (Diptera) along an Elevational Diversity Gradient in a Low Mountain Range: An Example from Central Europe
title Distributional Patterns of Aquatic Empididae (Diptera) along an Elevational Diversity Gradient in a Low Mountain Range: An Example from Central Europe
title_full Distributional Patterns of Aquatic Empididae (Diptera) along an Elevational Diversity Gradient in a Low Mountain Range: An Example from Central Europe
title_fullStr Distributional Patterns of Aquatic Empididae (Diptera) along an Elevational Diversity Gradient in a Low Mountain Range: An Example from Central Europe
title_full_unstemmed Distributional Patterns of Aquatic Empididae (Diptera) along an Elevational Diversity Gradient in a Low Mountain Range: An Example from Central Europe
title_short Distributional Patterns of Aquatic Empididae (Diptera) along an Elevational Diversity Gradient in a Low Mountain Range: An Example from Central Europe
title_sort distributional patterns of aquatic empididae (diptera) along an elevational diversity gradient in a low mountain range: an example from central europe
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7918972/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33671885
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects12020165
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