Seasonal variation in diversity of marine benthic invertebrates leads to a positive species-genetic diversity correlation (SGDC)

Species-genetic diversity correlations (SGDCs) are useful indicators of processes that simultaneously affect diversity at multiple biological levels. We combined spatial and temporal sampling of 4 study sites in the Danish Isefjord-Roskilde Fjord Estuary at 4 time points over 1 yr to investigate the effect of seasonal variation on SGDCs. Species diversity was estimated as species richness from samples comprising 20752 individuals representing 51 benthic invertebrate taxa. Genetic diversity was estimated for a single focal taxon, the polychaete Pygospio elegans, as mean allelic richness at 7 microsatellite loci. Combining all samples, a significant positive correlation between species richne…