Variation in morphology between core and marginal populations of three British damselflies

Authors: Hassall, Christopher¹; Thompson, David¹; Harvey, Ian¹

Source: Aquatic Insects, Volume 31, Number 3, September 2009 , pp. 187-197(11)

Purchase options

The full text electronic article is available for purchase. You will be able to download the full text electronic article after payment.

$42.75 plus tax Refund Policy

More like this?

In this: publication
By this: publisher
By this author: Hassall, Christopher ; Thompson, David ; Harvey, Ian

Content Key:

- Free

- New

- Open Access

- Subscribed

- Free Trial

Abstract:

As selective pressures are altered by the changing climate, species have been shown to shift their distributions. Here we investigate morphological variation in dispersal-related traits between core and marginal populations in three species of Odonata, a taxon that is known to be expanding polewards. We sampled individuals of (i) Calopteryx splendens, a species with a rapidly expanding range, (ii) Erythromma najas, a species with a slowly expanding range, and (iii) Pyrrhosoma nymphula, a species that does not exhibit a range margin in the UK (as a control). Only C. splendens exhibited consistent trends within two dispersal-related traits (wing:abdomen length ratio and aspect ratio). This result suggests that proximity to range margin alone does not account for variations in damselfly morphology, but that the rate of range expansion may also be important in determining variation.

Keywords: Odonata; dragonfly; range shift; morphology; climate change; dispersal

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1080/01650420902776708

Affiliations: 1: School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK