Higher-taxon richness as a surrogate for species richness in chemosynthetic communities |
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| Institution: | 1. Marine Biology Research Group, Department of Biology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium;2. Laboratory for Aging Physiology and Molecular Evolution, Department of Biology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium;3. Centrum for Molecular Phylogeny and Evolution, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium;4. OD Taxonomy and Phylogeny, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium;1. Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Ravila 14A, 50411 Tartu, Estonia;2. Institut für Geologie, Universität Hamburg, Bundesstr. 55, 20146 Hamburg, Germany;3. Institute of Geology, Tallinn University of Technology, Ehitajate tee 5, 19086 Tallinn, Estonia;1. UMR 7138 Evolution Paris-Seine, Equipe Biologie de la Mangrove, Université des Antilles, UFR des Sciences Exactes et Naturelles, Département de Biologie, BP 592, 97 159 Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, France;2. NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Department of Marine Microbiology, 4400 AC, Yerseke, The Netherlands |
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| Abstract: | Estimations of biodiversity and species richness in deep-sea marine ecosystems are impeded by time-consuming methods of species identification. In conservation biology, in environmental monitoring, and in paleontology, a higher-taxon approach (e.g., identification to genera or families) can be used as a surrogate for species richness. We applied a higher-taxon approach to well-documented chemosynthetic communities associated with seep and vent mussel beds to test its applicability in these systems. Significant positive correlations between cumulative number of species and cumulative number of higher taxa were found at the generic, family, and order levels. The number of these higher taxa can be used to predict species richness in vent and seep mussel beds. |
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