Can a Single Amphibian Species Be a Good Biodiversity Indicator?

Diversity

David Sewell¹ 

关键词: bioindicator;    indicator;    amphibian;    biodiversity;    environmental change;    macroinvertebrate;    aquatic plant;   

DOI  :  10.3390/d1020102

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Although amphibians have been widely promoted as indicators of biodiversity and environmental change, rigorous tests are lacking. Here key indicator criteria are distilled from published papers, and a species that has been promoted as a bioindicator, the great crested newt, is tested against them. Although a link was established between the presence of great crested newts and aquatic plant diversity, this was not repeated with the diversity of macroinvertebrates. Equally, amphibians do not meet many of the published criteria of bioindicators. Our research suggests that a suite of indicators, rather than a single species, will usually be required.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2009 by the authors; licensee Molecular Diversity Preservation International, Basel, Switzerland.