Local and regional diversity in some Aegean land snail faunas

Land snail faunas from maquis and phrygana sites on the islands of Naxos an d Crate, and from the eastern Peloponnese were sampled to determine the rel ationships between local (site) and regional diversities. Mean site diversi ties are similar in each region. In both the Peloponnese and Crete, however , these represent a much lower proportion of total diversity than is the ca se for forest faunas from more northerly parts of Europe. The small island of Naxos has more uniform faunas. Some of this between-site diversity is a product of habitat heterogeneity, but most is a product of small-scale biog eographical differentiation. Despite the short (c. 250km) distances between regions, the faunas of each region differ far more than do faunas from for ests in northern Europe spread over much greater distances. Nearly 80% of s pecies recorded were found in only one region. These results are compared w ith those from elsewhere, and discussed in the context of the high diversit y of snail faunas in the mediterranean area generally.