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Latitudinal Patterns of Species Richness in Hard-Bottom Communities

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Marine Hard Bottom Communities

Part of the book series: Ecological Studies ((ECOLSTUD,volume 206))

Abstract

Hard-bottom communities are distributed worldwide, particularly in shallow and exposed marine systems. Due to their fast growth and their capacity to settle on artificial surfaces, these assemblages represent a suitable study system for ecologists and are therefore often used to investigate ecological models. One wexample of a well-recognized macro-ecological pattern is the ‘latitudinal gradient of species richness’. This concept is the oldest paradigm about a large-scale ecological pattern and simply states that the tropical regions are richer in species than are temperate and polar regions at higher latitudes. To better understand latitudinal effects on the diversity of hard-bottom communities, in this chapter I report on two assessments of global diversity patterns in these assemblages which have the rare quality of representing globally replicated observations yielding data of comparable format and resolution. I further review a meta-analytical comparison on global patterns in benthic marine algae.

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Acknowledgements

J. Canning-Clode studies were supported by a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of Kiel, Duesternbrooker Weg 20, 24105, Kiel, Germany

    João Canning-Clode

  2. University of Madeira, Centre of Macaronesian Studies Marine Biology Station of Funchal, 9000-107, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal

    João Canning-Clode

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  1. João Canning-Clode
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Correspondence to João Canning-Clode .

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    © 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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    Canning-Clode, J. (2009). Latitudinal Patterns of Species Richness in Hard-Bottom Communities. In: Wahl, M. (eds) Marine Hard Bottom Communities. Ecological Studies, vol 206. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/b76710_5

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