Disentangling the Role of Climate, Topography and Vegetation in Species Richness Gradients

Moura, Mario R.; Villalobos, Fabricio; Costa, Gabriel C.; García, Paulo C. A.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0152468

Cited by 70 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Recently, climatic niches became the focus of numerous studies addressing niche evolution, niche occupation patterns, and the relationship between ecological niches and species richness patterns (e.g. Boucher‐Lalonde et al., ; Gómez‐Rodríguez et al., ; Moura, Villalobos, Costa, & Garcia, ; Pie, ; Pie, Campos, Meyer, & Duran, ). However, most studies overlook the fact that climatic niche space has an anisotropic structure (Soberón & Peterson, ), in which some combinations of climatic conditions are more common than others.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental prevalence and the distribution of species richness across climatic niche space

Meyer

Pie

2018

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim The reciprocal relationship between geographical and ecological niche space known as Hutchinson's duality provides a powerful framework to analyse the relationship between biogeographical distributions and environmental variables. However, little attention has been given to how the structure of niche space is associated with the distribution of species across niche space itself. We examined whether environmental prevalence (i.e. the relative availability of different combinations of climatic conditions) can predict the climate‐richness relationship and consequently influence broad‐scale patterns of species richness. Location Worldwide Methods We tested our hypothesis using distribution data on >10,000 species of amphibians and mammals. We measured the environmental prevalence of five climatic variables associated with broad‐scale patterns of species richness. To this end, we divided each variable into equally spaced intervals representing particular climatic regimes, and calculated the geographical area where each regime is present. We then used species‐area regression models and hierarchical partitioning to test the relationship between environmental prevalence and the number of species in each climatic regime, and measure the relative importance of environmental prevalence and climate in explaining species richness across climatic niche space. Results Our results indicate a strong relationship between environmental prevalence and the number of species found in each climatic regime, especially in temperature‐related variables. Moreover, environmental prevalence was generally a stronger predictor of species richness than climate. Results were similar for amphibians and mammals, being observed at both global‐ and realm‐scales. Main conclusions Our findings suggest that the relationship between climate and species richness can arise from the variation in environmental prevalence. This conclusion challenges the traditional idea that climate itself is a primary driver of the climate‐richness relationship. We argue that environmental prevalence should be considered in future tests of the relationship between environmental variables and species richness.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental prevalence and the distribution of species richness across climatic niche space

Meyer

Pie

2018

Journal of Biogeography

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“…Regardless of the spatial scale, more than one‐fourth of the variation in species density and rarefied species richness explained by our models was attributed to the shared effects of productivity and soil. Agreeing with this finding, patterns of Neotropical vertebrate diversity were mainly driven by the interaction between climatic conditions and local vegetation structure (Moura, Villalobos, Costa, & Garcia, ). Furthermore, metacommunity patterns may be determined by synergisms between local enhancement and regional limitation of diversity, that is the selective agent and the fuel of local communities, respectively (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

Ant diversity in Neotropical savannas: Hierarchical processes acting at multiple spatial scales

Maravalhas

Vasconcelos

2019

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Understanding what creates and maintains macroscale biodiversity gradients is a central focus of ecological and evolutionary research. Spatial patterns in diversity are driven by a hierarchy of factors operating at multiple scales. Historical and climatic factors drive large‐scale patterns of diversity by affecting the size of regional species pools, while habitat heterogeneity or microhabitat characteristics further influence species coexistence at small scales. We tested the degree to which the species–energy, historical factors, habitat heterogeneity and local environment hypotheses explain observed patterns of ant diversity across hierarchical spatial scales. We sampled ground‐dwelling ants at 29 sites within a Neotropical savanna region, the Brazilian Cerrado. We measured species density – an abundance‐dependent diversity metric – and rarefied species richness – an abundance‐independent metric – at spatial scales with varying grain sizes. For each hypothesis, two correlates were used to predict ant diversity patterns: (a) species–energy: rainfall and productivity; (b) historical factors: historical variation in rainfall and refugial areas; (c) habitat heterogeneity: heterogeneity in greenness and diversity of land cover; and (d) local factors: contents of sand and coarse fragments in the soil. Ant diversity patterns correlated to net primary productivity and to the proportion of coarse fragments in the soil, corroborating the species–energy and local environment hypotheses, respectively. Soil negatively influenced species density, but not rarefied species richness, which was positively influenced by productivity. We found scale dependencies in the effects of soil/productivity on species density; productivity best predicted species density patterns at large scales, since sampling completeness offset the abundance‐driven effects of soil. Considering abundance differences may help to discern the mechanisms underlying the relationship between macroscale diversity patterns and its ecological drivers. Plant productivity affected ant diversity independently of abundance, possibly by limiting the size of regional species pools. On the other hand, soil properties had an abundance‐dependent effect on ant diversity, indicating a sampling mechanism. Our findings are consistent with predictions of the hierarchical theory of diversity. Large‐scale patterns of productivity limit regional diversity, an effect that cascades down to finer spatial scales, where soil properties influence the number of coexisting species.

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“…Species richness and the synergistic associations among environmental gradients Moura et al (2016) addressed the relative influence of climate, topography, and vegetation as broad-scale drivers of species richness of amphibians, non-volant mammals, bats, and birds in the Neotropics. I address the synergism among these three general categories of environmental gradients and trace a parallel of the synergistic associations with three major macroecological hypotheses invoked to explain broad-scale gradients of species richness: ambient-energy, productivity, and habitat heterogeneity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the synergism among environmental gradients: Towards a better understanding of macroecological hypotheses

Moura¹

2017

Frontiers of Biogeography

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Abstract. The role of environmental gradients as drivers of biological diversity has been the center of many discussions in ecology and evolution. Hypotheses proposed to explain broad-scale patterns of biological diversity have mechanistic bases that often overlap, at least partially. Consequently, it is often difficult to tease apart the potential effects of different hypotheses. Here I investigate the synergism among macroecological hypotheses commonly invoked to explain species diversity. More specifically, I address the role of ambientenergy, climatic stability, habitat heterogeneity, productivity, and topographic complexity in shaping broad-scale patterns of tropical vertebrates under three different aspects of biological diversity: species richness, species pools, and species composition. I show how differences in the degree of synergism among distinct types of environmental gradients can be used to improve our understanding of traditional macroecological hypotheses, highlighting the convergent findings across the three different aspects of biological diversity.

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Disentangling the Role of Climate, Topography and Vegetation in Species Richness Gradients

Cited by 70 publications

References 62 publications

Environmental prevalence and the distribution of species richness across climatic niche space

Environmental prevalence and the distribution of species richness across climatic niche space

Ant diversity in Neotropical savannas: Hierarchical processes acting at multiple spatial scales

Assessing the synergism among environmental gradients: Towards a better understanding of macroecological hypotheses

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