An integrative approach to understanding diversity patterns and assemblage rules in Neotropical bats

Hurtado-Materon, María A.; Murillo‐García, Oscar E.

doi:10.1038/s41598-023-35100-z

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 44 publications

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“…diet, body size and locomotion) can describe a species's life history and behaviour, making explicit the ecological processes that may govern where a species lives [21]. Furthermore, how varied or clustered functional traits are within an assemblage can indicate the strength of species interactions and the degree of trait-filtering and niche partitioning across the assemblage [20,22,23]. Examining the community structure of endemism hotspots and the relationships between functional traits and endemism can therefore provide fundamental insights into the evolutionary, ecological and environmental mechanisms governing vertebrate range sizes and extinction risk.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The environmental conditions of endemism hotspots shape the functional traits of mammalian assemblages

Shipley,

McGuire

2024

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Endemic (small-ranged) species are distributed non-randomly across the globe. Regions of high topography and stable climates have higher endemism than flat, climatically unstable regions. However, it is unclear how these environmental conditions interact with and filter mammalian traits. Here, we characterize the functional traits of highly endemic mammalian assemblages in multiple ways, testing the hypothesis that these assemblages are trait-filtered (less functionally diverse) and dominated by species with traits associated with small range sizes. Compiling trait data for more than 5000 mammal species, we calculated assemblage means and multidimensional functional metrics to evaluate the distribution of traits across each assemblage. We then related these metrics to the endemism of global World Wildlife Fund ecoregions using linear models and phylogenetic fourth-corner regression. Highly endemic mammalian assemblages had small average body masses, low fecundity, short lifespans and specialized habitats. These traits relate to the stable climate and rough topography of endemism hotspots and to mammals' ability to expand their ranges, suggesting that the environmental conditions of endemism hotspots allowed their survival. Furthermore, species living in endemism hotspots clustered near the edges of their communities’ functional spaces, indicating that abiotic trait filtering and biotic interactions act in tandem to shape these communities.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The environmental conditions of endemism hotspots shape the functional traits of mammalian assemblages

Shipley,

McGuire

2024

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Comparative morphology in the context of facial reduction: Modularity in primate, dog, and bat crania

Selba,

Vilaplana Grosso,

DeLeon

2024

Journal of Morphology

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Biological variation in the mammalian skull is the product of a series of factors including changes in gene expression, developmental timing, and environmental pressures. When considering the diversity of extant mammalian crania, it is important to understand these mechanisms that contribute to cranial growth and in turn, how differences in cranial morphology have been attained. Various researchers, including Dr. Sue Herring, have proposed a variety of mechanisms to explain the process of cranial growth. This work has set the foundation on which modern analysis of craniofacial morphology happens today. This study focused on the analysis of modularity in three mammalian taxa, all of which exhibit facial reduction. Specifically, we examined facial reduction as a morphological phenomenon through the use of two‐module and six‐module modularity hypotheses. We recorded three‐dimensional coordinate data for 55 cranial landmarks that allowed us to analyze differences in cranial shape in these three taxa (primates n = 88, bats n = 64, dogs n = 81). When assessing modularity within the two‐module modularity hypothesis specifically, dogs exhibited the lowest levels of modularity, while bats and primates both showed a slightly more modular covariance structure. We further assessed modularity in the same sample using the Goswami six‐module model, where again dogs exhibited a low degree of modularity, with bats and primates being more moderate. We then broke the sample into subsets by analyzing each morphotype separately. We hypothesized that the modularity would be more pronounced in the brachycephalic morphotype. Surprisingly, we found that in brachycephalic dogs, normocephalic dogs, brachycephalic primates, and normocephalic primates, there was a moderate degree of modularity. Brachycephalic bats had a low degree of modularity, while normocephalic bats were the most modular group observed in this study. Based on these results, it is evident that facial reduction is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon with unique morphological changes observed in each of the three taxa studied.

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Multiple dimensions of phyllostomid bat biodiversity across ecosystems of the Orinoco Llanos

Farneda,

Otálora‐Ardila,

Meyer

et al. 2024

Animal Conservation

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Understanding the impacts of habitat conversion on species assemblages across multiple biodiversity dimensions (taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic) and spatial scales is pivotal for implementing effective conservation strategies. Here, we surveyed phyllostomid bats using mist nets in riparian and unflooded forests, flooded savannahs, and conventional rice fields to investigate how changes in habitat quality affect multifaceted diversity from two Colombian farming systems in the Orinoco Llanos: traditional farmlands with high‐intensity agriculture (mainly rice production) and Civil Society Nature Reserves with greater ecosystem protection. We used a unified framework based on Hill numbers for quantifying bat taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity and modeled the relationship of these diversity facets with landscape variables (habitat cover and patch density) across three spatial scales (0.5, 1.5, 3 km) using Bayesian generalized linear mixed‐effect models. Our results indicate that increasing human activity toward rice monocultures representative of traditional farmlands negatively affected all diversity facets. In contrast, forested habitats associated mainly with riparian forests within private reserves contained higher taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity than savannahs and rice fields. However, the differences between riparian forests and rice crops were significant only for phylogenetic diversity, indicating loss of evolutionary history after habitat conversion. At the landscape scale, forest cover was a significant predictor for functional (0.5‐ and 3‐km scale) and phylogenetic diversity (0.5 km), and bats responded negatively at the 3‐km scale to rice patch density from a functional diversity perspective. Increasing habitat quality through preserving forest cover and patches should minimize the harmful effects of habitat conversion on multidimensional bat biodiversity. Furthermore, the conservation of riparian forests and the creation of more wildlife‐friendly farming, as practiced in the reserves, should be prioritized to ensure high levels of bat taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity across Orinoco countryside landscapes.

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An integrative approach to understanding diversity patterns and assemblage rules in Neotropical bats

Cited by 3 publications

References 44 publications

The environmental conditions of endemism hotspots shape the functional traits of mammalian assemblages

The environmental conditions of endemism hotspots shape the functional traits of mammalian assemblages

Comparative morphology in the context of facial reduction: Modularity in primate, dog, and bat crania

Multiple dimensions of phyllostomid bat biodiversity across ecosystems of the Orinoco Llanos

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