The world’s biogeographical regions revisited: global patterns of endemism in Tipulidae (Diptera)

Abstract

This paper explores the distributional data of 4,224 Tipulidae (Insecta: Diptera) species to search for endemism patterns in a worldwide scale and to test the extent to which the global patterns of endemism of the group fit into previously proposed regionalization schemes, particularly Wallace's system and recent revisions of it. Large scale areas of endemism are assessed using the grid-based method implemented in VNDM. VNDM depends on the prior definition of the grid size for analysis, but a criterion for choosing beforehand a particular grid size is not clear. The same holds for the choice of the level of similarity in species composition selected for the calculation of consensus areas. In our study, we developed a methodological approach that helped defining objective criteria for choosing suitable values for these critical variables. Large-scale areas of endemism around the globe are identified and ranked according to endemicity levels: 1--West Palaearctic, 2--Nearctic, 3--East Palaearctic-Oriental, 4--West North America, 5--Australia, 6--Neotropical, 7--Sub-Saharan Africa, 8--Palaearctic, and 9--Middle East. Our main conclusion is that there are still some limitations in applying biogeographical classifications proposed mostly on the basis of vertebrate distribution to other taxonomic groups, such as the Tipulidae. While there is a general congruence of the broad-scale areas of endemism of tipulids with previously proposed regionalization schemes, for some areas, the sharpness of boundaries between traditional regions is not so acute, due to a great level of overlap of part of its biotic elements.

The spectre of biogeographical regionalization

“…Ribeiro et al. () analysed the biogeographical regionalization of the world using the grid‐based method implemented in NDM/VNDM (Szumik & Goloboff, ; Szumik et al., ). Based on a data base of 4,224 species of Tipulidae (Diptera), they identified nine largest areas of endemism, which correspond to already recognized regions or subregions.…”

“…But, paradoxically, several biogeographical regionalizations based on the analysis of large databases have been published recently (e.g. Escalante, ; Holt et al., ; Kreft & Jetz, ; Procheş & Ramdhani, ; Ribeiro et al., ; Rueda, Rodríguez, & Hawkins, ). It seems that biogeographical regionalization is back, like a spectre, haunting molecular/parametric biogeographers and others who ignore biogeographical regionalizations.…”

Areas of endemism of arthropods in the Atlantic Forest (Brazil): an approach based on a metaconsensus criterion using endemicity analysis

“…Different approaches have been proposed to deal with high number of resulting areas, either through spatial overlap of AEs (Prado et al, 2014;Mart ınez-Hern andez et al, 2015) or by the use of combined quantitative criteria to choose AEs (DaSilva et al, 2015). As an alternative to employing different sets of parameters under a particular method, Ribeiro et al (2014) proposed a methodology for defining suitable values of grid size and the level of inclusiveness of consensus areas under objective criteria.…”

Areas of endemism in the Nearctic: a case study of 1339 species of Miridae (Insecta: Hemiptera) and their plant hosts

“…Szumik et al, 2012;Del Ventura et al, 2013). Among the exceptions to this pattern are a worldwide analysis that uses specimen information from > 4200 species of Tipulidae (Ribeiro et al, 2014), a study that investigates areas of endemism among gypsum-tolerating plants in Spain (Mart ınez-Hern andez et al, 2015), and analyses that are based on mammal distribution data and examine the southern limit of the Nearctic region (Escalante et al, 2010) and areas of endemism within that region (Escalante et al, 2013). Given the paucity of studies that have aimed at objectively identifying areas of endemism in the Nearctic (especially north of Mexico), the analysis by Escalante et al (2013) is of particular interest.…”