title: Testing the species--genetic diversity correlation in the Aegean archipelago: toward a haplotype-based macroecology?
abstract: A positive correlation between species diversity and genetic diversity has been proposed, consistent with neutral predictions in macroecology. We assessed the species--genetic diversity correlation in tenebrionid beetle communities of the Aegean archipelago on 15 islands of different sizes, distances to mainland, and ages of isolation. Alpha and beta diversity of species and haplotypes were assessed using sequences of > 1,000 individuals (mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase 1 and nuclear muscular protein 20). We show that (i) there is a strong species-area and haplotype-area relationship; (ii) species richness in island communities is correlated with intraspecific genetic diversity in the constituent species except when island size or distance to mainland is factored out in partial correlations; (iii) community similarity declines exponentially at an increasing rate when calculated on the basis of species, nuclear, and mtDNA haplotypes; and (iv) distance decay of community similarity is slower in dispersive sand-dwelling lineages compared with less dispersive lineages that are not sand obligate. Taken together, these correlated patterns at the species and haplotype level are consistent with individual-based stochastic dispersal proposed by neutral theories of biodiversity. The results also demonstrate the utility of haplotype data for exploring macroecological patterns in poorly known biota and predicting large-scale biodiversity patterns based on genetic inventories of local samples.
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom. a.papadopoulou05@gmail.com
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Papadopoulou
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Anastasiou
authors.forename: Foteini
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Spagopoulou
authors.forename: Malda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stalimerou
authors.forename: Sofia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Terzopoulou
authors.forename: Anastasios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Legakis
authors.forename: Alfried P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Vogler
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000235:genetics; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D017753:Ecosystem; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006115:Greece; D006239:Haplotypes; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009124:Muscle Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D019476:Insect Proteins; D009124:Muscle Proteins; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV