Turkish Journal of Zoology
Abstract
There is a notable paucity of detailed information regarding the distribution and ecological characteristics of nonmarine Ostracoda in Northern Cyprus. Furthermore, a comprehensive assessment of their distribution across islands in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres is incomplete. To advance our understanding of ostracod diversity, distribution, and ecological preferences, a total of 79 aquatic sites in Northern Cyprus were randomly sampled between 18 May and 12 August 2022. A total of 64 ostracod taxa were identified, comprising 28 living species and 36 subfossils, with 18 species representing new records for the island. Additionally, five ostracod species were reported for the first time on any island. The ionic composition of the sampled waters was dominated by sodium and chloride. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) identified five key environmental variables (electrical conductivity, magnesium, calcium, pH, and water temperature) as significant factors influencing species distribution. The CCA model accounted for 66.4% of the variance in species–environment relationships. Species with cosmopolitan distributions had a broad tolerance to these environmental variables. To assess regional patterns in ostracod diversity, the occurrence data from Northern Cyprus were compared with those from Mersin Province (Türkiye) and 196 global island studies. No statistically significant difference in ostracod species diversity was observed between Mersin Province and Northern Cyprus. However, a marked contrast in species diversity was found between Mediterranean islands (153 taxa from 37 islands) and non-Mediterranean islands (321 taxa from 159 islands). In total, 351 living nonmarine ostracod species have been recorded from 188 islands worldwide, with 256 species from 136 islands in the Northern Hemisphere and 121 species from 52 islands in the Southern Hemisphere. Our results suggest that ostracod species have distinct ecological and habitat preferences, with species diversity generally increasing as islands are located closer to the mainland. This pattern is discussed with the predictions of island biogeography theory, highlighting the role of island size and proximity to mainland sources in shaping ostracod diversity.
DOI
10.55730/1300-0179.3269
Keywords
Island ostracods, distribution, ecological preference, habitat diversity, island biogeography theory, tolerance and optimum estimates
First Page
256
Last Page
274
Publisher
The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK)
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
ÖZDİLEK, A, & KÜLKÖYLÜOĞLU, O (2026). Nonmarine ostracods of Northern Cyprus: diversity, ecology, and global island comparisons. Turkish Journal of Zoology 50 (5): 256-274. https://doi.org/10.55730/1300-0179.3269
