Coexistence by a great number of species could reflect niche segregation at several resource axes. Differences in the use of a hilltop as mating site for a Eumaeini (Lycaenidae) community were measured to test whether niche segregation exists within this group. Specimens were collected throughout 21 samplings between July-October of 2004 and July-October of 2005. Two environmental variables and three temporal-spacial variables were analyzed utilizing null models with three randomization algorithms. Significant differences were found among the species with respect to utilization of vertical space, horizontal space, temporary distribution and environmental temperature. The species did not show significant differences with respect to light intensity. For all samplings, the niche overlap observed in the two environmental variables were higher or significantly higher than expected by chance, suggesting that niche segregation does not exist due to competition within these variables. Similar results were observed for temporal distribution. Some evidence of niche segregation was found in vertical space and horizontal space variables where some samples presented lower overlap than expected by chance. The results pointed out that community's assemblage could be mainly shaped in two ways. The first is that species with determined habitat requirements fit into unoccupied niche spaces. The second is by niche segregation in the vertical space distribution variable.
Island biogeography in continental areas: inferring dispersal based on distributional patterns of Pronophilina butterflies (Nymphalidae: Satyrinae) in the north Andean massifs Biogeografía de islas en áreas continentales: inferencia de dispersión basada en patrones de distribución de las mariposas Pronophilina (Nymphalidae: Satyrinae) en los macizos del norte de los Andes
In this work, we used mtDNA data as a tool to delimit species and we compared the resulting molecular operational taxonomic units (barcode index number, BIN) with morphology-based identifications in the Colombian species of Rhamma Johnson, 1992 exploring the usefulness of DNA barcodes for taxonomy, species identification and delimitation. We obtained cytochrome oxidase I (COI) sequences for 134 morphologically identified specimens, representing 12 species of Rhamma from Colombia. Ten of these species have not been previously barcoded. DNA barcodes suggested the potential for eight additional cryptic species in Colombia but we were readily able to morphologically diagnose just one of these linages as a new species which recently was described in a separate paper as Rhamma dawkinsi Prieto & Lorenc-Brudecka, 2017. The morphological species were separated into three categories: species showing a perfect match between morphological species and BINs (33%, four species); species sharing a BIN completely or partly (single specimens) with another morphological species (42%, five species placed in three BINs); and morphological species splitting up into more than one BIN (25%, three species placed in 10 BINs). The high percentages of incongruence between morphology-based identification and species delineation through BINs, could be explained as a consequence of high rates of introgressive hybridization. However, DNA barcodes can be considered diagnostic even in cases where specimens of a species were assigned to two or more distinct BINs and in species showing a low but constant divergence causing their assignment to a single BIN, which is often the case in young, allopatric species. We retain 10 of the 12 species (83%) to be diagnostic in molecular identification.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.