Data from: Testing the species–genetic diversity correlation in the Aegean archipelago: towards a haplotype-based macroecology?

A positive correlation between species and genetic diversity (SGDC) has
been proposed, consistent with neutral predictions in macroecology. We
assessed the SGDC in tenebrionid beetle communities of the Aegean
archipelago on fifteen islands of different sizes, distances to mainland,
and ages of isolation. Alpha- and beta-diversity of species and haplotypes
were assessed using sequences of >1000 individuals (mitochondrial
Cytochrome Oxidase I and nuclear Muscular Protein 20) to test the SGDC. We
show that: (i) there is a strong species-area and haplotype-area
relationship; (ii) species richness in island communities is correlated
with intraspecific genetic diversity in the constituent species except
when island size or distance to mainland are factored out in partial
correlations; (iii) community similarity declines exponentially at an
increasing rate when calculated based on species, nuclear and mtDNA
haplotypes; and (iv) distance decay of community similarity is slower in
dispersive sand-dwelling lineages compared to less dispersive lineages
that are not sand-obligate. Taken together, these correlated patterns at
the species and haplotype level are consistent with individual-based
stochastic dispersal proposed by neutral theories of biodiversity. The
results also demonstrate the utility of haplotype data for exploring
macroecological patterns in poorly known biota and predicting large-scale
biodiversity patterns based on genetic inventories of local samples.

物种与遗传多样性正相关关系（Species-Genetic Diversity Correlation, SGDC）已被提出，该假说与大生态学中的中性理论预测相一致。我们针对爱琴海群岛内15个面积、与大陆距离及隔离年代各不相同的岛屿上的拟步甲科（Tenebrionidae）甲虫群落开展了SGDC相关研究。我们通过对逾1000个个体的线粒体细胞色素氧化酶I（mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase I, COI）与核肌肉蛋白20（nuclear Muscular Protein 20, MP20）序列进行分析，评估了物种与单倍型（haplotype）的α多样性（alpha-diversity）与β多样性（beta-diversity），以此检验SGDC假说。

研究结果显示：（i）存在显著的物种-面积关系与单倍型-面积关系；（ii）岛屿群落的物种丰富度与群落内各组成物种的种内遗传多样性呈显著正相关，但在偏相关分析（partial correlations）中控制岛屿面积或与大陆的距离变量后，该相关性不再显著；（iii）基于物种、核基因单倍型与线粒体DNA单倍型计算得到的群落相似性均呈指数级衰减，且衰减速率随距离增加而递增；（iv）相较于非专性沙地栖息、扩散能力较弱的支系（lineage），营沙地栖息且扩散能力较强的支系的群落相似性距离衰减速率更慢。

综上，物种与单倍型水平的这些协同变化模式，与生物多样性中性理论（neutral theories of biodiversity）提出的基于个体的随机扩散假说相一致。本研究结果同时证实，单倍型数据可用于探索研究程度较低的生物类群的大生态学格局，并可基于局域样本的遗传普查预测大尺度生物多样性格局。