Dataset Information

Evaluating multiple spatial scales to understand the distribution of anuran beta diversity in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.

ABSTRACT: We partitioned the total beta diversity in the species composition of anuran tadpoles to evaluate if species replacement and nestedness components are congruent at different spatial resolutions in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. We alternated the sampling grain and extent of the study area (among ponds at a site, among ponds within regions, among sites within regions, and among sites within regions pooled together) to assess the importance of anuran beta diversity components. We then performed variation partitioning to evaluate the congruence of environmental descriptors and geographical distance in explaining the spatial distribution of the species replacement and nestedness components. We found that species replacement was the main component of beta diversity, independent of the sampling grain and extent. Furthermore, when considering the same sampling grain and increasing the extent, the values of species replacement increased. On the other hand, when considering the same extent and increasing the sampling grain, the values of species replacement decreased. At the smallest sampling grain and extent, the environmental descriptors and geographic distance were not congruent and alternated in the percentage of variation explaining the spatial distribution of species replacement and nestedness. At the largest spatial scales (SSs), the biogeographical regions showed higher values of the percentage explaining the variation in the beta diversity components. We found high values of species replacement independently of the spatial resolution, but the processes driving community assembly seem to be dependent on the SS. At small scales, both stochastic and deterministic factors might be important processes structuring anuran tadpole assemblages. On the other hand, at a large spatial grain and extent, the processes restricting species distributions might be more effective for drawing inferences regarding the variation in anuran beta diversity in different regions of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.

SUBMITTER: Melchior LG

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5383494 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Evaluating multiple spatial scales to understand the distribution of anuran beta diversity in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.

Melchior Lara G LG Rossa-Feres Denise de C DC da Silva Fernando R FR

Ecology and evolution 20170312 7

We partitioned the total beta diversity in the species composition of anuran tadpoles to evaluate if species replacement and nestedness components are congruent at different spatial resolutions in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. We alternated the sampling grain and extent of the study area (among ponds at a site, among ponds within regions, among sites within regions, and among sites within regions pooled together) to assess the importance of anuran beta diversity components. We then performed va ...[more]

PMID: 28405303

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Project description:Aim:Species distributions are one of the most important ways to understand how communities interact through macroecological relationships. The functional abilities of a species, such as its plasticity in various environments, can determine its distribution, species richness and beta diversity patterns. In this study, we evaluate how functional traits influence the distribution of amphibians, and hypothesize which functional traits explain the current pattern of amphibian species composition. Location:Atlantic Forest, Brazil. Taxon:Amphibia (Anura and Gymnophiona). Methods:Using potential distributions of Brazilian amphibians from Atlantic Forest based on their functional traits, we analysed the influence of biotic and abiotic factors on species richness, endemism (with permutation multivariate analysis) and beta diversity components (i.e. total, turnover and nestedness dissimilarities). Results:Environmental variables explained 59.5% of species richness, whereas functional traits explained 15.8% of species distribution (geographical species range) for Anuran and 88.8% for Gymnophiona. Body size had the strongest correlation with species distribution. Results showed that species with medium to large body size, and species that are adapted to living in open areas tended to disperse from west to east direction. Current forest changes directly affected beta diversity patterns (i.e. most species adapted to novel environments increase their ranges). Beta diversity partitioning between humid and dry forests showed decreased nestedness and increased turnover by increasing altitude in the south-eastern region of the Atlantic Forest. Main Conclusions:Our study shows that functional traits directly influence the ability of the species to disperse. With the alterations of the natural environment, species more apt to these alterations have dispersed or increased their distribution, which consequently changes community structure. As a result, there are nested species distribution patterns and homogenization of amphibian species composition throughout the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.

Project description:Phylobetadiversity is defined as the phylogenetic resemblance between communities or biomes. Analyzing phylobetadiversity patterns among different vegetation physiognomies within a single biome is crucial to understand the historical affinities between them. Based on the widely accepted idea that different forest physiognomies within the Southern Brazilian Atlantic Forest constitute different facies of a single biome, we hypothesize that more recent phylogenetic nodes should drive phylobetadiversity gradients between the different forest types within the Atlantic Forest, as the phylogenetic divergence among those forest types is biogeographically recent. We compiled information from 206 checklists describing the occurrence of shrub/tree species across three different forest physiognomies within the Southern Brazilian Atlantic Forest (Dense, Mixed and Seasonal forests). We analyzed intra-site phylogenetic structure (phylogenetic diversity, net relatedness index and nearest taxon index) and phylobetadiversity between plots located at different forest types, using five different methods differing in sensitivity to either basal or terminal nodes (phylogenetic fuzzy weighting, COMDIST, COMDISTNT, UniFrac and Rao's H). Mixed forests showed higher phylogenetic diversity and overdispersion than the other forest types. Furthermore, all forest types differed from each other in relation phylobetadiversity patterns, particularly when phylobetadiversity methods more sensitive to terminal nodes were employed. Mixed forests tended to show higher phylogenetic differentiation to Dense and Seasonal forests than these latter from each other. The higher phylogenetic diversity and phylobetadiversity levels found in Mixed forests when compared to the others likely result from the biogeographical origin of several taxa occurring in these forests. On one hand, Mixed forests shelter several temperate taxa, like the conifers Araucaria and Podocarpus. On the other hand, tropical groups, like Myrtaceae, are also very representative of this forest type. We point out to the need of more attention to Mixed forests as a conservation target within the Brazilian Atlantic Forest given their high phylogenetic uniqueness.

Dataset Information

Evaluating multiple spatial scales to understand the distribution of anuran beta diversity in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.

Publications

Evaluating multiple spatial scales to understand the distribution of anuran beta diversity in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.

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