Freshwater fishes in Greek lakes: Species richness and body size patterns
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1
University of Ioannina, Department of Biological Applications and Technology , Greece
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2
Université de Montpellier, France
Freshwater ecosystems are widely recognised as hotspots of biodiversity and endemism; thus they are of great value for conservation biogeography. Amongst the taxa found in freshwater ecosystems, fish are the ideal biological model for testing biogeographical patterns and have often been used in large-scale ecological and biogeographical analyses. Lakes of Greece provide a unique opportunity to test biogeographical theories, however, biogeographical studies in Greece at broader, regional, scales, based on the distribution of freshwater species, species richness and endemism, are scarce.
The aim of the current study is to test the effect of key environmental factors and spatial variables on species richness of lacustrine fishes and to test their effect on species’ size distributions. We assembled datasets of species richness and body size and environmental (predictor) factors for 13 Greek lakes. Model selection procedures revealed that fish species richness increased with ecosystem area and decreased with altitude. In addition, our results showed that latitude per se is a good predictor of body size. Indeed, the mean size of lacustrine communities in the northern and southern lake ecosystems differed significantly. These patterns reflect the biogeographical history of these areas and highlight the crucial role connectivity plays in communities’ species composition.
Keywords:
freshwater fishes,
Greek lakes,
Biogeographical patterns,
species richness,
Body Size
Conference:
XV European Congress of Ichthyology, Porto, Portugal, 7 Sep - 11 Sep, 2015.
Presentation Type:
Poster Presentation
Topic:
Ecology, Conservation and Invasive Species
Citation:
Oikonomou
A,
Leprieur
F and
Leonardos
I
(2015). Freshwater fishes in Greek lakes: Species richness and body size patterns.
Front. Mar. Sci.
Conference Abstract:
XV European Congress of Ichthyology.
doi: 10.3389/conf.FMARS.2015.03.00162
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Received:
10 Nov 2015;
Published Online:
28 Nov 2015.
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Correspondence:
Miss. Anthi Oikonomou, University of Ioannina, Department of Biological Applications and Technology, Ioannina, Greece, anthi.oikon@gmail.com