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Latitudinal biodiversity patterns of meiofauna from sandy littoral beach
Kotwicki, L.; Szymelfenig, M.; De Troch, M.; Urban-Malinga, B.; Weslawski, J.M. (2005). Latitudinal biodiversity patterns of meiofauna from sandy littoral beach. Biodivers. Conserv. 14: 461-474
In: Biodiversity and Conservation. Kluwer Academic Publishers/Springer: London. ISSN 0960-3115; e-ISSN 1572-9710, more
Peer reviewed article  
Available in  Authors 
Keywords
    Aquatic communities > Benthos > Meiobenthos
    Biodiversity
    Topographic features > Landforms > Coastal landforms > Beaches
    Marine/Coastal
Authors  Top 
  • Kotwicki, L., more
  • Szymelfenig, M.
  • De Troch, M., more
  • Urban-Malinga, B.
  • Weslawski, J.M., more
Abstract
    Meiofaunal samples from arctic (Bear Island, Franz Josef Land, Hopen, Kolguev), temperate (Baltic Sea, North Sea), subtropical (Tunisia, Greece), tropical (Emirates, Ghana) and antarctic sandy beaches were collected at the medium water mark. The highest average meiofaunal density was found in the temperate zone (1300 individuals 10 cm–2) and the lowest in both polar regions: in arctic (79 individuals 10 cm–2) and in antarctic (35 individuals 10 cm–2) samples. Nematodes dominated the meiofauna community in warm regions, while turbellarians were more common in cold water regions. Sixteen higher taxa were recorded in tropical sites, while only eight taxa were observed in the sampled cold regions. This difference was mainly due to the presence of small specimens of macrofauna in the tropics. When only 'true meiofauna' higher taxa were compared, no latitudinal trends were found.
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