Preface to the Princeton Landmarks in Biology Edition vii Preface xi Symbols Used xiii 1. The Importance of Islands 3 2. Area and Number of Speicies 8 3. Further Explanations of the Area-Diversity Pattern 19 4. The Strategy of Colonization 68 5. Invasibility and the Variable Niche 94 6. Stepping Stones and Biotic Exchange 123 7. Evolutionary Changes Following Colonization 145 8. Prospect 181 Glossary 185 References 193 Index 201

The Theory of Island Biogeography

The dictionary definition of a law is: "Generalized formulation based on a series of events or processes observed to recur regularly under certain conditions; a widely observable tendency". I argue that ecology has numerous laws in this sense of the word, in the form of widespread, repeatable patterns in nature, but hardly any laws that are universally true. Typically, in other words, ecological patterns and the laws, rules and mechanisms that underpin them are contingent on the organisms involved, and their environment. This contingency is manageable at a relatively simple level of ecological organisation (for example the population dynamics of single and small numbers of species), and re-emerges also in a manageable form in large sets of species, over large spatial scales, or over long time periods, in the form of detail-free statistical patterns - recently called 'macroecology'. The contingency becomes overwhelmingly complicated at intermediate scales, characteristic of community ecology, where there are a large number of case histories, and very little other than weak, fuzzy generalisations. These arguments are illustrated by focusing on examples of typical studies in community ecology, and by way of contrast, on the macroecological relationship that emerges between local species richness and the size of the regional pool of species. The emergent pattern illustrated by local vs regional richness plots is extremely simple, despite the vast number of contingent processes and interactions involved in its generation. To discover general patterns, laws and rules in nature, ecology may need to pay less attention to the 'middle ground' of community ecology, relying less on reductionism and experimental manipulation, but increasing research efforts into macroecology.

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Are there general laws in ecology

The present study proposes to reconcile the different spatial and temporal scales of regional species production and local constraint on species richness. Although interactions between populations rapidly achieve equilibrium and limit membership in ecological communities locally, these interactions occur over heterogeneous environments within large regions, where the populations of species are stably regulated through competition and habitat selection. Consequently, exclusion of species from a region depends on long-term regional-scale environmental change or evolutionary change among interacting populations, bringing species production and extinction onto the same scale and establishing a link between local and regional processes.

A comprehensive framework for global patterns in biodiversity

Free-flowing rivers (FFRs) support diverse, complex and dynamic ecosystems globally, providing important societal and economic services. Infrastructure development threatens the ecosystem processes, biodiversity and services that these rivers support. Here we assess the connectivity status of 12 million kilometres of rivers globally and identify those that remain free-flowing in their entire length. Only 37 per cent of rivers longer than 1,000 kilometres remain free-flowing over their entire length and 23 per cent flow uninterrupted to the ocean. Very long FFRs are largely restricted to remote regions of the Arctic and of the Amazon and Congo basins. In densely populated areas only few very long rivers remain free-flowing, such as the Irrawaddy and Salween. Dams and reservoirs and their up- and downstream propagation of fragmentation and flow regulation are the leading contributors to the loss of river connectivity. By applying a new method to quantify riverine connectivity and map FFRs, we provide a foundation for concerted global and national strategies to maintain or restore them. A comprehensive assessment of the world’s rivers and their connectivity shows that only 37 per cent of rivers longer than 1,000 kilometres remain free-flowing over their entire length.

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Mapping the world’s free-flowing rivers

Climate influences a population through a variety of processes, including reproduction, growth, migration patterns and phenology. Climate may operate either directly through metabolic and reproductive processes or indirectly through prey, predators, and competitors. One mechanism that may be particularly important, and which is the focus of this review, is the role of climate in affecting the reproductive success of a predator through its effect on the relative timing of food requirement and food availability during early life stages. This principle — the match or mismatch of predators' requirement with resource availability — originated in the marine literature, where it ini- tially referred to how growth and survival of fish larvae (predator) depends on this production being synchronous with that of their main food items, i.e. early stage zooplankton (prey). Here we review how the match/mismatch hypothesis (MMH) is used to describe climate effects on ecological patterns and processes in both marine and terrestrial systems. In addition to studying match/mismatch sensu stricto, we expand on it to include effects of overall production level and the spatial aspect. Possible impacts of climate change on match/mismatch are examined in the context of one of the most appar- ent effects of global warming: an advancement of spring phenology. As a consequence of different species reacting dissimilarly, even minor changes in climate may invoke non-linear responses unbal- ancing established patterns of synchrony. All components of a food chain cannot be expected to shift their phenology at the same rate, and thus are unlikely to remain synchronous.

/pdf/climate-and-the-match-or-mismatch-between-predator-vjmdrf406w.pdf

Climate and the match or mismatch between predator requirements and resource availability

Growth and toxin production in the ciguatera-causing dinoflagellate Gambierdiscus polynesiensis (Dinophyceae) in culture

The 2D shape of sagittae of Encrasicholina devisi, E. heteroloba, E. cf. punctifer, and Stolephorus indicus, four tropical Engraulididae of New Caledonia, was studied with 1) dimensionless shape descriptors (form factor, roundness, and aspect ratio); 2) elliptic Fourier analysis (EFA) and Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) of 2D outline; and 3) geometric morphometrics (GM) based on four standard landmarks and nine semi-landmarks. The largest sagittae of E. cf. punctifer were lacier, i.e., had a smaller form factor, than the sagittae of the other species. The sagittae of E. devisi and S. indicus were more roundish, and presented a lower aspect ratio, than those of E. heteroloba and E. cf. punctifer. Between-class correspondence analysis (COA) indicated that between-species inertia was the lowest when based on the 96 Fourier coefficients originating from EFA, and the highest when based on the 22 partial warps originating from GM. As otoliths of different sizes from different species presented similar shapes, relative between-species inertia increased markedly when length, width, perimeter, and area were added to the set of variables originating from EFA, FFT, or GM. Despite otoliths having only a few, sparsely located, homologous landmarks, GM appeared slightly more efficient in distinguishing the sagittae of the four species and allowed visualization of the modification of otolith shape as they grow.

Is geometric morphometrics efficient for comparing otolith shape of different fish species

We studied the synchronism between the seasonal occurrence of fish larvae and their prey in ice-covered southeastern Hudson Bay, Canada, in spnng 1988, 1989 and 1990. Arctic cod Boreogadus saida and sand lance Ammodytes sp. larvae hatched several weeks before ice break-up and fed primarily on copepod nauplii. The timing of 50% yolk resorption was the same every year (1 1 to 18 May for Arctic cod and 5 to 11 June for sand lance) but the availability of copepod naupli~ varied substantially between years, both in magnitude (7-fold) and timing (4 to 6 wk), lnterannual differences in the under-ice abundance of nauplii were linked to variations in the abundance of female cyclopoid copepods, and appeared unrelated to the timing of the ice-algal or phytoplankton blooms. Interannual differences (2to 4-fold) in the feeding success of fish larvae (percent feeding incidence at length and mean feeding ratio at length) were related to the availability of copepod nauplii Consistent with the match/mismatch hypothesis, the fixity of the spawning season in relation to a variable cycle of prey abundance accounted for the observed variations in feeding success and apparent growth (length at date) of fish larvae. Yet, in this particular ecosystem, a match or mismatch between Arctic cod or sand lance larvae and their prey may depend more on the dynamics of cyclopoid copepods during the previous winter than on the timing of the spring algal blooms.

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The match/mismatch hypothesis and the feeding success of fish larvae in ice-covered southeastern Hudson Bay

Ciguatera risk assessment in two toxic sites of French Polynesia using the receptor-binding assay ☆

An annotated checklist of the fish species of the Madagascar EEZ (southwestern Indian Ocean) comprises a total of 1,798 species in 247 families. 158 species are recorded from Madagascar for the first time. The majority of the species is autochthonous; 28 species have been introduced, mainly in freshwater habitats. The fish fauna is mostly marine (95.4% of the total number of native fish species), with the Gobiidae, Labridae, Serranidae, Pomacentridae and Apogonidae being the families with most representatives; among the 90 native freshwater fish species (adults mainly occurring in freshwater), the Cichlidae are the dominating family, but there are also two endemic families, the Bedotiidae (16 species) and Anchariidae (6 species). The fish fauna at Madagascar is typical for offshore, high islands in the southwestern Indian Ocean. Zoogeographically, the main element of the marine fish fauna of Madagascar consists of widespread tropical Indo-Pacific species (978 species, 58.3% of the total native marine species). A total of 13 species (3.3%) are found worldwide, either circumtropical or circumtropical including warm temperate zones. A total of 215 species (12.8%) are found worldwide, either circumtropical or circumtropical including warm temperate zones. An additional 453 species (27.0%) are Indian Ocean endemics, including 233 western Indian Ocean endemics (13.9%), 73 southwestern Indian Ocean endemics (4.4%), 16 species endemic to Madagascar and Mascarenes (1.0%), 4 species endemic to Madagascar and Comoros (0.2%), 3 species endemic to Madagascar and Madagascar Ridge (0.2%), and 37 marine species endemic to Madagascar (2.2%). Most of the autochthonous freshwater fishes are endemic to Madagascar (87 species, 96.7% of the native freshwater species).

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Dominique Ponton

Papers

Growth and toxin production in the ciguatera-causing dinoflagellate Gambierdiscus polynesiensis (Dinophyceae) in culture

Is geometric morphometrics efficient for comparing otolith shape of different fish species

The match/mismatch hypothesis and the feeding success of fish larvae in ice-covered southeastern Hudson Bay

Ciguatera risk assessment in two toxic sites of French Polynesia using the receptor-binding assay ☆

Annotated checklist of the fishes of Madagascar, southwestern Indian Ocean, with 158 new records