Biogeography and conservation of viperids from North-West Africa: An application of ecological niche-based models and GIS

Brito, José Carlos; Fahd, Soumía; Géniez, Philippe; Martínez‐Freiría, Fernando; Pleguezuelos, Juan M.; Trape, Jean‐François

doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2011.06.006

Cited by 51 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Results from this study emphasize the biological value of Mauritanian mountains, and further support the importance of these island-like mountains for conservation of Sahelo-Saharan biodiversity (Telleria et al, 2008;Padial and Tellen'a, 2009;Trape, 2009;Brito et al, 2010Brito et al, , 2011Vale, Alvares and Brito, 2012;Padial et al, in press). Distribution and habitat selection patterns observed may give indications about other mountain-restricted species in the region, with fragmented distributions and similar habitat requirements, such as Tarentola parvicarinata, Pristurus adrarensis or Ptyodactylus ragazzi.…”

Section: Observationssupporting

confidence: 76%

“…The 20 replicates were averaged to generate a forecast of species presence probability, which is a robust procedure to derive consensus predictions of species likelihood of presence (Marmion et al, 2009). Percentage of contribution of EGVs to the models was used to identify variables most related to species occurrence (Brito et al, 2009(Brito et al, ,2011. Twenty replicate GLM models were built using the RAbs dataset and one GLM model with the FAbs datasets.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Distribution, suitable areas and conservation status of the Boulenger’s agama (Agama boulengeri, Lataste 1886)

et al. 2012

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bstract. Agama boulengeri is a West African endemic lizard. It occurs in arid rocky areas in the Mauritanian mountains and Kayes region of Mali. Data on the distribution of Agama boulengeri is however very coarse, and the contribution of climatic and habitat factors for population isolation are unknown. Using Maxent, GLM, and high-resolution data, we generated environmental niche models, and quantified suitable areas for species occurrence. Field observations and predicted suitable areas were used to evaluate the conservation status of Agama boulengeri. Results revealed the species occurs preferentially close to gueltas, bare areas, and rocky deserts and in areas of increasing rainfall. Suitable cells were mostly located in Mauritania, and four potentially fragmented subpopulations were identified. The conservation status of Agama boulengeri was determined to be of Least Concern.

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Section: Observationssupporting

confidence: 76%

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confidence: 99%

Distribution, suitable areas and conservation status of the Boulenger’s agama (Agama boulengeri, Lataste 1886)

et al. 2012

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“…To decrease levels of spatial autocorrelation in species presence, a random process of removing localities from clusters of species occurrence was performed (Brito et al, 2011). The nearest neighbour index from the 'Spatial Analyst' extension of ArcGIS (ESRI, 2006) was used as assessment.…”

Section: Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Spatial correlation among variables was tested, and only eight slightly correlated (R < 0.58) variables were chosen for modelling purposes (see Table S2). These variables are commonly used in ecological niche modelling of vipers (Mart ınez-Freir ıa et al, 2008;Brito et al, 2011).…”

Section: Climatic Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trapped by climate: interglacial refuge and recent population expansion in the endemic Iberian adder Vipera seoanei

Martínez‐Freiría

Velo‐Antón

Brito

2014

Diversity and Distributions

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Aim Climate variability is a major force affecting diversification processes and restricting species to specific areas, and thus, it has important impacts on species biogeographic patterns. This study aims to infer the role of climate in the evolutionary history of the endemic Iberian adder Vipera seoanei.Location Northern Iberian Peninsula and south-western France.Methods We combined genetic analyses with ecological niche-based modelling. Genetic analyses, based on sequencing of mitochondrial markers (cyt b, ND4), include phylogenetic and phylogeographic analyses, spatial interpolations of genetic variability and diversity, and identification of putative geographical origin of the most recent common ancestor of the species. Ecological modelling involved the combination of six modelling algorithms and projections to past conditions (Last Interglacial -LIG, Last Glacial Maximum -LGM) and the identification of climatic stable areas. ResultsThe species shows a shallow phylogeographic structure, dated at middle-upper Pleistocene, and low haplotype diversity, with the highest genetic diversity located in north-western Iberia. This region is identified as the putative origin of the ancestral populations. Projections to past periods spatially fit genetic results, indicating range contractions to north-western Iberia during the LIG and expansions during the LGM.Main conclusions This study exemplifies how the combination of phylogeographic and ecological niche-based models is a powerful tool for inferring evolutionary scenarios and responses of species to Pleistocene climatic oscillations. Vipera seoanei responded accordingly to a cold temperate model and fits a simplified example of 'R' type species where interglacial warming periods during the Pleistocene probably caused major range reductions with persistence in a single refuge in north-western Iberia. The single mtDNA lineage observed in this study does not support the differentiation at subspecific level in V. seoanei. Our work highlights the importance of climate in explaining evolutionary processes and current biogeographical patterns of species with restrictive ranges.

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“…However, this contact of Afro-tropical and Palearctic taxa is not restricted to the Sahel. Mountains in the Sahara, including the Air and Hoggar mountains, are known to act like islands surrounded by the desert, and constitute refugia for i.solated populations of fishes, amphibians and reptiles (Froufe, Brito and Harris, 2009;Trape, 2009;Brito et al, 2011). The presence of endemisms and relict populations in the mountains can be related to the Saharan historical range oscillations in the last few million years, which have largely affected the range and composition of North African biodiversity (Le Houérou, 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nuclear and mitochondrial markers reveal the existence of several geographically concordant lineages within a Sahelian gecko species, Ptyodactylus ragazzii

Froufe

Gonçãlves²,

Brito³

et al. 2013

Amphib Reptilia

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The genetic diversity within Ptyodactytus ragazzii was analysed for the first time across the Western part of its range. We have used two mitochondrial (12s rRNA and 16s rRNA) and one nuclear (Cmos) marker to compare results directly with other related Ptyodactytus species, P oudrii and P. hassetquislii. Results show high levels of intraspecific variahility, with at least three divergent mtDNA lineages that have different haplotypes for Cmos and that are geographically concordant. R ragazzii from Mauritania is probably a distinct species and possibly other lineages too, such as those from the Air Mountains in Niger, although more nuclear markers are needed to confirm this. All analysed Ptyodactytus species appear to be cryptic species complexes containing multiple deeply divergent forms, highlighting the need for a careful reassessment of the taxonomy of the whole genus.

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Biogeography and conservation of viperids from North-West Africa: An application of ecological niche-based models and GIS

Cited by 51 publications

References 35 publications

Distribution, suitable areas and conservation status of the Boulenger’s agama (Agama boulengeri, Lataste 1886)

Distribution, suitable areas and conservation status of the Boulenger’s agama (Agama boulengeri, Lataste 1886)

Trapped by climate: interglacial refuge and recent population expansion in the endemic Iberian adder Vipera seoanei

Nuclear and mitochondrial markers reveal the existence of several geographically concordant lineages within a Sahelian gecko species, Ptyodactylus ragazzii

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