ABSTRACT Located in the center of Asia, Mongolia lies in an ecological transition zone where the ... more ABSTRACT Located in the center of Asia, Mongolia lies in an ecological transition zone where the Central Asian Steppe meets the Siberian taiga forest and the Gobi desert. These unique ecosystems support significant invertebrate biodiversity that plays crucial roles in ecosystem functioning and services. Darkling beetles of the family Tenebrionidae (Insecta, Coleoptera, Polyphaga) form the most conspicuous group of detrito- and phytodetritophagous arthropods, which dominate - together with ants - the vast Mongolian steppe habitats in terms of biomass and abundance. The spatial pattern of their species richness, however, is hardly known. We used a comprehensive geo-referenced museum record (ca. 3500 records) of 187 beetle species to quantify habitat associations and estimate species richness of darkling beetles in different ecoregions of Mongolia. Darkling beetle species richness was negatively associated with latitude, but positively correlated with maximum and minimum temperature, demonstrating that tenebrionid species richness is greater in Mongolian regions of pronounced aridity and low productivity. High beta diversity between ecoregions was due mainly to species replacement rather than species loss.
ABSTRACT Located in the center of Asia, Mongolia lies in an ecological transition zone where the ... more ABSTRACT Located in the center of Asia, Mongolia lies in an ecological transition zone where the Central Asian Steppe meets the Siberian taiga forest and the Gobi desert. These unique ecosystems support significant invertebrate biodiversity that plays crucial roles in ecosystem functioning and services. Darkling beetles of the family Tenebrionidae (Insecta, Coleoptera, Polyphaga) form the most conspicuous group of detrito- and phytodetritophagous arthropods, which dominate - together with ants - the vast Mongolian steppe habitats in terms of biomass and abundance. The spatial pattern of their species richness, however, is hardly known. We used a comprehensive geo-referenced museum record (ca. 3500 records) of 187 beetle species to quantify habitat associations and estimate species richness of darkling beetles in different ecoregions of Mongolia. Darkling beetle species richness was negatively associated with latitude, but positively correlated with maximum and minimum temperature, demonstrating that tenebrionid species richness is greater in Mongolian regions of pronounced aridity and low productivity. High beta diversity between ecoregions was due mainly to species replacement rather than species loss.
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