Namibian desert dragons: patterns, traits and processes

With a total of 75 species the odonate diversity in the Namibian desert is surprisingly high. Based on their distribution characteristics, habitat use, invasion patterns, and breeding success, six groups of species can be distinguished, of which groups 1 and 2 include widespread and common species that permanently live in the desert and may be desert biased or generally more widespread in savanna habitats. Species of groups 3 and 4 enter the desert seasonally or irregularly from neighbouring tropical or temperate regions, and may temporally also be very common. Groups 5 and 6 include species with highly localised breeding populations in the desert, which are widely isolated from potential source populations (5) or are restricted to allochthonous perennial rivers (6). I will discuss these patterns from a geographical and a temporal perspective, compare life history traits, namely larval development and dispersal ability, of species from those groups. Finally, I will describe effects of interactions between the various groups on the community level and report on consequences of anthorpogenic disturbance for natural communities.