Body size distributions at community, regional or taxonomic scales do not predict the direction of trait‐driven diversification in snakes in the United States

Burbrink, Frank T.; Myers, Edward A.

doi:10.1111/geb.12139

Cited by 8 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 89 publications

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“…All of these traits have been considered ecologically relevant for snakes in previous contexts (Vitt 1987, Shine 1991, 1994, Rodriguez-Robles and De Jesus-Escobar 1999, Boback 2003, Burbrink et al 2012, Burbrink and Myers 2014. Body and clutch size were log transformed and presence or absence was scored for vivaparity or oviparity, nocturnal or diurnal diel patterns, and diet that includes mammals, birds, lizards, snakes, frogs, salamanders, arthropods, worms or gastropods.…”

Section: Trait Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Body and clutch size were log transformed and presence or absence was scored for vivaparity or oviparity, nocturnal or diurnal diel patterns, and diet that includes mammals, birds, lizards, snakes, frogs, salamanders, arthropods, worms or gastropods. All of these traits have been considered ecologically relevant for snakes in previous contexts (Vitt 1987, Shine 1991, 1994, Rodriguez-Robles and De Jesus-Escobar 1999, Boback 2003, Burbrink et al 2012, Burbrink and Myers 2014.…”

Section: Trait Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Both traits and phylogenetic history influence community structure in snakes over steep environmental gradients

Burbrink

Myers

2015

Ecography

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Assemblages of closely related organisms are generated on axes of deep time diversification, biogeographic processes related to dispersal and habitat filtering, and competition. Using models that account for phylogeny, ecology, and traits, we examine how the interaction among biogeography, habitat filtering, and trait convergence influences community assemblage in Nearctic snakes. With 122 community surveys, environmental niche, trait data including size, diet, parity and habitat preference, and a nearly complete phylogeny of snakes from the United States, we ask 1) do phylogenetic species variability (PSV) and traits change in predictable and correlated ways given ecology and geographic distance, 2) are the measured traits variable within and across communities and how is this related to PSV at local scales, and 3) is there evidence of habitat filtering or trait divergence? Following a general trend of western to eastern North American origin and dispersal of major groups, we similarly show a significant decrease in PSV in this direction but unexpectedly with stable trait variance, showing that traits and phylogenetic variability are disconnected at the community level. We also demonstrate that trait variability and not PSV dominates local communities. Finally, regardless of phylogeny, we show that certain traits, such as reproductive mode (parity) frequency, change within communities in response to steep ecological gradients.

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Section: Trait Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Trait Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Both traits and phylogenetic history influence community structure in snakes over steep environmental gradients

Burbrink

Myers

2015

Ecography

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“…Among the majority of taxa, body size distributions are often skewed to the right, with a greater frequency of small‐sized species (Blackburn & Gaston, 1994a; Gaston & Blackburn, 2000; Kozlowski & Gawelczyk, 2002). This pattern is well documented for mammals (Brown & Nicoletto, 1991; Clauset & Erwin, 2008), birds (Blackburn & Gaston, 1994b; Gaston & Blackburn, 2000) and reptiles (Burbrink & Myers, 2014; O’Gorman & Hone, 2012) and even for all terrestrial species together (Hutchinson & MacArthur, 1959; May, 1988). Despite some exceptions (amphisbaenians, Feldman et al., 2015; lacustrine fishes, Griffiths, 2012; tropical mammals, Bakker & Kelt, 2000), right‐skewed body size distributions do not seem to be a statistical artefact, although distributions based on incomplete samples might be biased (Blackburn & Gaston, 1994a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 73%

Body size distributions of anurans are explained by diversification rates and the environment

Amado

Martínez

Pincheira‐Donoso

et al. 2020

Global Ecol. Biogeogr.

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Aim Body size frequency distributions are often skewed to the right, with a greater frequency of small‐sized species. Right skewness can appear when speciation is biased towards small species and extinction towards large ones. In contrast, limits imposed by environmental constraints will select taxa to co‐occur in assemblages and can modify size distributions to the left or to the right. We analysed whether the shape of size distributions of anurans is related to diversification rates and how the environment might also be creating the observed patterns. Location The Western Hemisphere. Time period Current. Major taxa studied Anurans. Methods We computed diversification rates from a dated phylogeny and obtained data for body size, spatial distribution and the climate (annual temperature, potential evapotranspiration and normalized difference vegetation index) inhabited by 2,598 anuran species to analyse the relationship between diversification rates and body size. We then used an assemblage‐based approach to test whether the climate is acting together with species evolutionary history to generate skewed distributions of body sizes at local sites. Results Skewness was positively correlated with size‐biased speciation and extinction, whereas it was negatively correlated with net diversification. After the inclusion of environmental predictors, the explanatory power of our models increased significantly. When ranking the predictors, evolutionary rates remained first, followed by a secondary role of environmental variables. Main conclusions Despite the high frequency of right‐skewed body size distributions, anuran assemblages of the New World showed a variation of skewness that can be explained by faster net diversification (speciation minus extinction) at modal sizes. We conclude that size‐biased evolutionary rates and the environment both have a role in defining the proportion of small and large sizes at local scales.

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“…Since signals of interspecific competition, especially niche partitioning along the trophic dimension, are typically seen in snake assemblages [4], it can be predicted that interspecific competition should be particularly strong in species-rich microhabitats within rainforests and tropical forests. However, body size has no impact on competition or other factors that could potentially structure snake communities [16], whereas this character is known to greatly influence ecology and physiology for most organisms [17].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Venomous Snake Abundance Within Snake Species’ Assemblages Worldwide

et al. 2020

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Venomous snakes are among the main sources of mortality for humans in rural regions, especially in tropical countries. In this study, a meta-analysis of quantitative community ecology studies on snake assemblages throughout the world was conducted in order to evaluate variation in the frequency of occurrence of venomous species and venomous individuals by habitat and continent. A bibliographic search was done by consulting “Google Scholar” and “ISI Web of Knowledge”. In total, 24,200 results were obtained from our bibliographic search, out of which 60 independent studies reporting raw and analyzable quantitative data from 81 distinct snake communities were retained and used for analyses. A snow-ball procedure was also used to uncover additional studies to include in the analyses. We gathered data on a total of 30,537 snake individuals, with an average of almost 30% of venomous individuals. The mean number of sympatric species was 19, whereas the mean number of sympatric venomous species was almost 5. Venomous snake species accounted for 24.4% of the total species in each community—almost the same as the overall percentage of venomous snake species known worldwide (about 24%). The frequency of occurrence of venomous individuals did not differ significantly between tropical and temperate snake communities, and the same was true for the frequency of venomous species within each community. Thus, the greater number of snakebites in tropical countries is not due to there being more venomous snake species or individuals. The total number of species and the number of venomous species observed in each community were positively correlated, and there was a significant difference among continents in terms of the mean number of species in each community. Within communities, there were inter-continental and inter-habitat differences in both the percentage of venomous species and in the percentage of venomous individuals. The Generalized Linear Model (GLM) revealed that the frequency of venomous species at a local scale depended only on the total number of species inhabiting a given site, whereas the frequency of venomous individuals within communities depended on both the total number of species and a habitat–continent interaction. Our meta-analysis could enable the appropriate authorities/agencies to take the relative abundance of venomous species/individuals within snake assemblages into consideration for a better positioning of the first aid centers in locations where snake antivenoms should be available.

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Body size distributions at community, regional or taxonomic scales do not predict the direction of trait‐driven diversification in snakes in the United States

Cited by 8 publications

References 89 publications

Both traits and phylogenetic history influence community structure in snakes over steep environmental gradients

Both traits and phylogenetic history influence community structure in snakes over steep environmental gradients

Body size distributions of anurans are explained by diversification rates and the environment

Venomous Snake Abundance Within Snake Species’ Assemblages Worldwide

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