| Publication Type: | Journal Article |
| Year of Publication: | 1995 |
| Authors: | M. Palmer |
| Journal: | Ecography |
| Volume: | 18 |
| Pagination: | 173-177 |
| Keywords: | anima, Animalia-, Aphodius-sp. (Coleoptera-), Arthropoda-, Climatology- (Environmental-Sciences), Coleoptera-: Insecta-, Development-, Digestive-System (Ingestion-and-Assimilation), Ecology- (Environmental-Sciences), Invertebrata-, Nutrition-, Physiology- |
| Abstract: | The temporal overlap between seasonal distribution of adults of 14 congeneric dung beetle species (Aphodius spp.) was determined during one year, based on 11122 captures. The mean seasonal distribution of adults (mean of the sampling dates weighted by the abundance value) was analyzed to elucidate deviations from randomness. In addition, the effect of the shape of seasonal distribution of adults was investigated. In both analyses randomization methods were used. A clear trend exists maximizing the temporal displacement between middle points of chronologically consecutive species: newly emerging species appear every 26 +- 16 days. This trend minimizes the number of species pairs with no or very little temporal overlap. In contrast, the mean temporal overlap of the whole guild seems unaffected, with some species pairs showing a large temporal overlap. Whether the observed pattern can be attributed to interspecific competition must be addressed experimentally. |