Geographical and environmental patterns of Carpathian land snail faunas in a region of high endemicity
Abstract The land snail faunas of limestone gorges of Romanian Carpathians were sampled to test the effect of geographic and environmental factors on the malacofauna richness and composition. A total of 134 sites within 28 limestone gorges were surveyed during 2011–2019 using a combined strategy of...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-51870-6 |
| _version_ | 1797349917243473920 |
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| author | Voichița Gheoca Ana Maria Benedek Robert Cameron |
| author_facet | Voichița Gheoca Ana Maria Benedek Robert Cameron |
| author_sort | Voichița Gheoca |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The land snail faunas of limestone gorges of Romanian Carpathians were sampled to test the effect of geographic and environmental factors on the malacofauna richness and composition. A total of 134 sites within 28 limestone gorges were surveyed during 2011–2019 using a combined strategy of visual search and litter/topsoil analysis. Environmental variables such as geographic location, altitude, climate, microhabitat type, dominant vegetation, tree cover and width of the gorge were recorded to detect the relationship with species richness and composition. While the numbers of species, their identities and their abundance varied greatly among samples, both presence and absence data and quantitative multivariate analyses showed that region and climate or altitude (both strongly associated with region) accounted for far more variation than differences in tree cover and dominant microhabitat. Nevertheless, the effects of different habitat preferences were evident. The mixture of species with very restricted ranges within this Pleistocene refugium and those that have spread widely during the Holocene raise questions about the meaning of region when related to local richness and composition. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T12:37:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4eddc9bd22a94e0a9540836da470c5c6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T12:37:23Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-4eddc9bd22a94e0a9540836da470c5c62024-01-21T12:21:06ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222024-01-0114111210.1038/s41598-024-51870-6Geographical and environmental patterns of Carpathian land snail faunas in a region of high endemicityVoichița Gheoca0Ana Maria Benedek1Robert Cameron2Faculty of Sciences, Applied Ecology Research Center, Lucian Blaga University of SibiuFaculty of Sciences, Applied Ecology Research Center, Lucian Blaga University of SibiuNatural History MuseumAbstract The land snail faunas of limestone gorges of Romanian Carpathians were sampled to test the effect of geographic and environmental factors on the malacofauna richness and composition. A total of 134 sites within 28 limestone gorges were surveyed during 2011–2019 using a combined strategy of visual search and litter/topsoil analysis. Environmental variables such as geographic location, altitude, climate, microhabitat type, dominant vegetation, tree cover and width of the gorge were recorded to detect the relationship with species richness and composition. While the numbers of species, their identities and their abundance varied greatly among samples, both presence and absence data and quantitative multivariate analyses showed that region and climate or altitude (both strongly associated with region) accounted for far more variation than differences in tree cover and dominant microhabitat. Nevertheless, the effects of different habitat preferences were evident. The mixture of species with very restricted ranges within this Pleistocene refugium and those that have spread widely during the Holocene raise questions about the meaning of region when related to local richness and composition.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-51870-6 |
| spellingShingle | Voichița Gheoca Ana Maria Benedek Robert Cameron Geographical and environmental patterns of Carpathian land snail faunas in a region of high endemicity Scientific Reports |
| title | Geographical and environmental patterns of Carpathian land snail faunas in a region of high endemicity |
| title_full | Geographical and environmental patterns of Carpathian land snail faunas in a region of high endemicity |
| title_fullStr | Geographical and environmental patterns of Carpathian land snail faunas in a region of high endemicity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Geographical and environmental patterns of Carpathian land snail faunas in a region of high endemicity |
| title_short | Geographical and environmental patterns of Carpathian land snail faunas in a region of high endemicity |
| title_sort | geographical and environmental patterns of carpathian land snail faunas in a region of high endemicity |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-51870-6 |
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