Home
Work
Biology...
Programming...
Previous work
Education
Drosophila diversity over a disturbance gradient.
Kim van der Linde & Jan G. Sevenster (2002).
Proceedings Experimental and Applied Entomology 13: 51-56
Abstract
Applied biodiversity research is often constrained by the time available to
conduct proper research. An appropriate indicator taxon could simplify this
kind of research. One of the prerequisites is that the diversity of the
indicator shows a clear relation with the disturbance gradient. In this study,
we investigate if Drosophila
flies meet this prerequisite. Collections were
made over a disturbance gradient from closed canopy forest to grassland in the
Philippines. The results indicate that there are no differences in biodiversity
among habitats regardless of the index used. However, the overlap between
faunas of the two most extreme land use types is only 10% and most of the 35
species found clearly show habitat specialisation. In conclusion, the
Drosophila
communities show a clear response to the disturbance
gradient but this phenomenon is not easily measurable with diversity indices.
Related presentations:
-
December 2001
Presentation: "Does habitat destruction always lead to loss in biodiversity?" 13th annual meeting of the Netherlands Entomological Society, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
-
August 1994
Presentation: "Exploring the use of the Drosophila genus as biodiversity indicator. Research for the Sierra Madre Forest." 2nd conference of CVPED, Isabela State University, Cabagan, The Philippines.