Ecological Biogeography of Arthropods on Spartina Islands in Northwest Florida

Experimental tests of the equilibrium theory of insular biogeography with the terrestrial arthropod fauna of small islands in Northwest Florida are described. Six islets composed of pure Spartina alterniflora (area: 56 m2 to 1023 m2; distance from mainland: 29 m to 1752 m) were defaunated with methyl bromide gas after intensive, inclusive censuses of their terrestrial arthropod inhabitants. Two additional islands and a large S. alterniflora stand on the mainland were not defaunated and served as controls. The recolonization process was monitored by weekly nonlethal censuses of all the sites. Four large cages were placed over other, similar, islands to determine the persistence of populations trapped inside the cages in the absence of immigration. In addition, six traps located in the study area showed the general movement patterns of arthropods. A distinction was made between transient and resident species colonizing the islands based partly upon 3 previous yr of data on the arthropod communities of the a...

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