Open AccessGlobal scale patterns of fish species richness in rivers
Author(s) -
Oberdoff Thierry,
Guégan JeanFrançois,
Hugueny Bernard
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
ecography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.973
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1600-0587
pISSN - 0906-7590
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0587.1995.tb00137.x
Subject(s) - species richness , ecology , fish <actinopterygii> , scale (ratio) , geography , macroecology , environmental science , biology , fishery , cartography
Explanations of spatial and temporal variation in species richness is a central theme in community ecology Until recently, most research has focused on small‐scale phenomena, often emphasizing on local environmental factors and, thus, poorly reflecting large‐scale processes that organize species richness In this paper, we analyze variations in species richness of indigeneous freshwater fish on a worldwide scale We show that factors related to species‐area and species‐energy theories statistically explain most of the variation in freshwater fish species richness across continents Historical events supposed to influence present distributions offish are of little assistence in explaining variations in fish species richness at the global scale Our model, which uses easily measured factors, should also be of practical value to aquatic conservation biology and natural resource management