Environmental variables associated with insect richness and nestedness on small islands off the coast of northeastern Algeria

This study investigated the association of environmental factors with insect richness and nested patterns in the distribution of species of insects on small islands (northeastern Algeria). Insect species on eleven (11) islands were sampled using pitfall traps, sweep netting and a Japanese umbrella. To explain patterns in insect diversity on small islands, a generalized linear model (GLM) was used to determine the association of the overall richness and that of the dominant orders of insects with environmental variables (altitude, surface area, isolation, plant richness and number of habitats). To determine the nestedness pattern on these islands, the online interface NeD was used to measure total matrix nestedness. Of the variables measured, only plant richness was associated with variations in the overall species richness and that of the five dominant orders. The overall number of insects and that of the five dominant insect orders were significantly nested in all null models except the very restrictive FF model. Plant richness accounted for the nested structure of the overall number of insects and that of the five dominant orders (Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, Diptera and Lepidoptera). Surface area was also important in the nested structure of overall number of insects and that of the order Lepidoptera. The nestedness of the overall number of insects and that of the five dominant orders of insects, however, did not result from passive sampling and selective colonization. The most effective way of conserving overall number of insects and that of the five dominant orders of insects on the Algerian islands studied is to protect their plant richness and to maximize the overall number of species and that of Lepidoptera on these islands, conservation should concentrate on the largest islands