Biogeographical ecology in Odonata

Abstract

Abstract Biogeography—the study of the factors influencing the distribution of organisms in space and time—has a number of applications in modern research on odonates. Studies considering phylogenetic and geological information to infer past and extant patterns of biodiversity (known as historical biogeography, Jenkins and Ricklefs 2011) are considerably enhanced by ecological biogeography, providing a more complete view of the forces structuring odonate diversity. This chapter reviews current knowledge of the distribution of odonates globally, and also considers work in a number of active research areas in odonate biogeography, including the influence of climate on changing distribution, life-history attributes, and adaptation to changing landscapes, and the use of biogeographical methods in odonate conservation. It concludes that, while recent decades have seen much important work, much remains to be done to understand global odonate distributions, and to safeguard odonate diversity.