A zoogeographic study of the limnoterrestrial fauna on the Faroe islands

TY - GEN

T1 - A zoogeographic study of the limnoterrestrial fauna on the Faroe islands

AU - Trygvadóttir, Birna Vár

AU - Kristensen, Reinhardt Møbjerg

N1 - Conference code: 12

PY - 2013

Y1 - 2013

N2 - The Faroe islands (62°N, 7°W) are an archipelago of 18 small islands situated in the northeast Atlantic ocean between Iceland and the Shetland islands. A zoogeographic investigation (2001-2004) of the limnoterrestrial tardigrade fauna of these islands revealed 48 limnoterrestrial species and subspecies and one marine species, of which 29 were new records for the Faroe islands. Among the findings were three species in the recently described genus belonging to the family Eohypsibiidae. A faunistic comparison was also done with Iceland, Svalbard islands, Disko island (Greenland), Greenland (West and East), Scotland, England and with Newfoundland. On the basis of presence/absence data of the tardigrade species from the different countries a cluster analysis was computed, based on BrayCurtis similarities, and a dendrogram was constructed. The interesting results show that the Faroese tardigrade fauna is mostly similar with Iceland, which could be expected, but more surprising it is also very similar to the tardigrade fauna on Disko island (West Greenland). Several of the reported species exhibit a boreo-alpine disjunction (i.e.species only found in northern latitudes and in high altitudes farther south). These facts could indicate that the tardigrade fauna on the islands is very ancient and could have survived glaciation periods in refuges such as nunatakswhich occurred on the Faroes during glaciation periods. This study also includes a closer inspection of the altitudinal distribution of the tardigrade species found compared with similar data from Poland.

AB - The Faroe islands (62°N, 7°W) are an archipelago of 18 small islands situated in the northeast Atlantic ocean between Iceland and the Shetland islands. A zoogeographic investigation (2001-2004) of the limnoterrestrial tardigrade fauna of these islands revealed 48 limnoterrestrial species and subspecies and one marine species, of which 29 were new records for the Faroe islands. Among the findings were three species in the recently described genus belonging to the family Eohypsibiidae. A faunistic comparison was also done with Iceland, Svalbard islands, Disko island (Greenland), Greenland (West and East), Scotland, England and with Newfoundland. On the basis of presence/absence data of the tardigrade species from the different countries a cluster analysis was computed, based on BrayCurtis similarities, and a dendrogram was constructed. The interesting results show that the Faroese tardigrade fauna is mostly similar with Iceland, which could be expected, but more surprising it is also very similar to the tardigrade fauna on Disko island (West Greenland). Several of the reported species exhibit a boreo-alpine disjunction (i.e.species only found in northern latitudes and in high altitudes farther south). These facts could indicate that the tardigrade fauna on the islands is very ancient and could have survived glaciation periods in refuges such as nunatakswhich occurred on the Faroes during glaciation periods. This study also includes a closer inspection of the altitudinal distribution of the tardigrade species found compared with similar data from Poland.

U2 - 10.4081/jlimnol.2013.s1.e14

DO - 10.4081/jlimnol.2013.s1.e14

M3 - Conference article

SN - 1129-5767

VL - 72

SP - 113

EP - 122

JO - Journal of Limnology

JF - Journal of Limnology

IS - 1s

T2 - 12th International Symposium on Tardigrada

Y2 - 23 July 2012 through 26 July 2012

ER -