Rm. Quinn et al., ABUNDANCE-RANGE SIZE RELATIONSHIPS OF MACROLEPIDOPTERA IN BRITAIN - THE EFFECTS OF TAXONOMY AND LIFE-HISTORY VARIABLES, Ecological entomology, 22(4), 1997, pp. 453-461
1. A positive relationship between the local abundances and regional d
istributions of species in an assemblage has been observed for a wide
variety of taxa, but its underlying mechanisms remain poorly understoo
d. 2. Taxonomically controlled analyses of a group of the British macr
olepidoptera (moths) find a strong, abundance-range size relationship.
3. Degree of polyphagy and habitat generalism explain significant wit
hin-taxon variation in both range size and abundance, with polyphages
and habitat generalists having larger ranges and greater local abundan
ces than specialists. 4. Taxa that feed in niches considered to be ass
ociated with a high diversity of parasitoids have significantly smalle
r range sizes than other taxa. 5. With the possible exception of body
size, none of the life history variables examined explain significant
variation around the range size-abundance relationship.