Regional environments, life‐history patterns, and habitat use of spirostreptid millipedes in arid regions
作者:
C. S. CRAWFORD,
K. BERCOVITZ,
M. R. WARBURG,
期刊:
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
(WILEY Available online 1987)
卷期:
Volume 89,
issue 1
页码: 63-88
ISSN:0024-4082
年代: 1987
DOI:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1987.tb01344.x
出版商: Blackwell Publishing Ltd
关键词: Spirostreptid millipedes;regional environments;life‐history patterns;egg pellets;postemergence development;seasonal biology;feeding;dormancy;shelter;water balance
数据来源: WILEY
摘要:
Among diplopods with desert populations, only three species of Spirostreptida have been studied in an ecological context. The present review compares regional environments, life‐history patterns, and uses of habitat byOrlhoporus ornatus(Girard) from southwestern North America,Archispirostreptus tumuliporus judaicus(Attems) from the eastern Mediterranean seaboard, andHarpagophora nigra(Attems) from southwestern Africa. Published and unpublished studies are used to explore evidence for convergence among these species, as opposed to traits adapting them to physical aspects of given regions or habitats. UnlikeA. t. judaicus, O. ornatusandH. nigraare relatively restricted to arid habitats, although populations of all three species experience a variety of rainfall regimes and regional topographies. Where studied,O. ornatusandH. nigrahibernate during the long, often cool or cold dry season; they forage following warm‐season rains.A. t. judaicus, in contrast, forages during its long, warm dry season and hibernates in the cool, wet winter. Populations from the Judaean and Negev deserts differ from those inhabiting a mesic habitat (Megiddo) closer to the coast in regard to rates of development, seasonal activity and seasonal water balance. Convergence in the form of well‐developed desiccation resistance characterizes the two strictly desert species. All three species, together with other subtropical millipedes exposed to long dry seasons, are convergent with respect to patterns of diel surface activity and use of shelter. However species‐ and habitat‐specific life‐history features such as the seasonal timing of dormancy and emergence tend to mask convergence at the habitat level. Hence, the independent evolution of the three species with desert populations has resulted in life histories and habitat use that combine a moderate amount of convergence with considerable opportunistic adaptation to regional and local
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