Open AccessHost abundance, durability, basidiome form and phylogenetic isolation determine fungivore species richness
Author(s) -
Thorn Simon,
Müller Jörg,
Bässler Claus,
Gminder Andreas,
Brandl Roland,
Heibl Christoph
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
biological journal of the linnean society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.906
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1095-8312
pISSN - 0024-4066
DOI - 10.1111/bij.12447
Subject(s) - species richness , biology , ecology , abundance (ecology) , niche , host (biology) , biodiversity , phylogenetic diversity , species diversity , phylogenetic tree , body size and species richness , ecological niche , habitat , gene , biochemistry
Species with close associations to a specific host species, such as parasites and phytophages, make immense contributions to biodiversity. Hence, factors determining the variation in species richness among hosts are a main focus of ecological research. Investigations of determining factors of fungivorous species among host species are still scarce. Based on ecological patterns of parasites and phytophages, we hypothesized that the species richness of tree‐fungus beetles of the family C iidae ( C oleoptera) would increase with increasing basidiome size, niche diversity of the growth form, durability, increasing abundance and decreasing phylogenetic isolation of the host fungus. Our generalized least‐squares model, controlled by host phylogeny, revealed that C iidae species richness increases with host abundance, but decreases with host phylogenetic isolation. In contrast with our prediction, C iidae species richness was higher in annual basidiomes than in perennials. Pileate basidiomes revealed higher species richness than resupinate and stipitate basidiomes, which may be interpreted as being a result of their higher host niche diversity. The importance of host abundance, measured on the landscape scale, corroborates that fungivore species richness among macrofungal hosts is determined by factors similar to those that determine parasite and phytophage species richness among their hosts. © 2015 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2015, 114 , 699–708.