Elevational Distribution of Flightless Ground Beetles in the Tropical Rainforests of North-Eastern Australia.

ABSTRACT: Understanding how the environment influences patterns of diversity is vital for effective conservation management, especially in a changing global climate. While assemblage structure and species richness patterns are often correlated with current environmental factors, historical influences may also be considerable, especially for taxa with poor dispersal abilities. Mountain-top regions throughout tropical rainforests can act as important refugia for taxa characterised by low dispersal capacities such as flightless ground beetles (Carabidae), an ecologically significant predatory group. We surveyed flightless ground beetles along elevational gradients in five different subregions within the Australian Wet Tropics World Heritage Area to investigate (1) whether the diversity and composition

SUBMITTER: Staunton KM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4871570 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature