15 páginas, 1 tabla, 6 figuras.Does diversity beget diversity? Diversity
includes a diversity of concepts because it is linked to
variability in and of life and can be applied to multiple
levels. The connections between multiple levels of
diversity are poorly understood. Here, we investigated
the relationships between genetic, bacterial, and
chemical diversity of the endangered Atlanto-Mediterranean sponge Spongia lamella. These levels of
diversity are intrinsically related to sponge evolution
and could have strong conservation implications. We
used microsatellite markers, denaturing gel gradient
electrophoresis and quantitative polymerase chain
reaction, and high performance liquid chromatography to quantify genetic, bacterial, and chemical
diversity of nine sponge populations. We then used
correlations to test whether these diversity levels
covaried. We found that sponge populations differed
significantly in genetic, bacterial, and chemical
diversity. We also found a strong geographic pattern
of increasing genetic, bacterial, and chemical dissimilarity with increasing geographic distance between
populations. However, we failed to detect significant
correlations between the three levels of diversity
investigated in our study. Our results suggest that
diversity fails to beget diversity within a single species
and indicates that a diversity of factors regulates a
diversity of diversities, which highlights the complex
nature of the mechanisms behind diversityResearch funded by grants from the Agence Nationale de la
Recherche (ECIMAR), from the Spanish Ministry of Science
and Technology SOLID (CTM2010-17755) and Benthomics
(CTM2010-22218-C02-01) and the BIOCAPITAL project
(MRTN-CT-2004-512301) of the European Union. This is a
contribution of the Consolidated Research Group ‘‘Grupo de
Ecologı´a Bento´nica,’’ SGR2009-655.Peer reviewe