Fig. 9

Diversity measures within each of the temporal community (t1, t2, t3 and t4) at each explosive breeding event (n = 10). Three diversity indices are compared: species richness, Gini–Simpson diversity and Rao’s diversity coefficient. While alpha diversity indices (species richness and Gini–Simpson index) showed similar values for pre-explosive (t1–t2) and explosive breeding communities (t4), Rao’s diversity index, which includes spectral distances between species, showed a significant diminution during explosive breeding events. Asterisk indicates significant differences between time periods