Relationships between species number, lake size and resource diversity in assemblages of breeding waterfowl

• Breeding waterfowl, habitat diversity and food diversity were studied in 31 boreal lakes in Finland and Sweden. Lakes were 2-48 hectares in size, and had zero to eleven waterfowl species each. In all, sixteen species of Gaviiformes, Podicipediformes, Anseriformes and Fulica were recorded. The observed species distribution deviated from the 'null' expectation derived from a model of random placement, indicating a low importance of lake area per se. However, lake area was found to be a better predictor of species number than was length of shoreline, and lake area-species number regressions gave values between 0.255 and 0.345. We further evaluated 'the area per se (sampling)' hypothesis and 'habitat diversity' hypothesis separately by multiple stepwise regressions, in which lake area explained most of the variation in species number in species dependent on the lake for brood-rearing. Richness of more mobile species and of all species was best explained by the number of prey taxa encountered in the lake.

Subject headings

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologiska vetenskaper (hsv//swe)

Keyword

SAMPLING HYPOTHESIS

HABITAT DIVERSITY HYPOTHESIS

ISLAND BIOGEOGRAPHY

WATERFOWL

LAKE AREA

BIRDS

RICHNESS

AREA

Biology

Biologi

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)