Dataset Information

Shark and ray diversity in the Tropical America (Neotropics)-an examination of environmental and historical factors affecting diversity.

ABSTRACT: We present the first comprehensive review of the present and past shark and ray diversity in marine waters of Tropical America, examining the patterns of distribution in the Eastern Central Pacific (EP) and Western Central Atlantic (WA) realms. We identified the major regions of diversity and of endemism, and explored the relations to physical variables. We found a strong relationship between shark and ray diversity with area and coastal length of each province. The Tropical Northwestern Atlantic Province is characterized by high diversity and greater occurrence of endemic species, suggesting this province as the hotspot of sharks and rays in Tropical America. The historical background for the current biogeography is explored and analyzed. Referential data from 67 geological units in 17 countries, from both shallow and deep-water habitats, across five time-clusters from the Miocene to the Pleistocene were studied. New data include 20 new assemblages from six countries. The most diverse Neogene and extant groups of shark and ray are Carcharhiniformes and Myliobatiformes, respectively. The differentiation between Pacific and Atlantic faunas goes to at least the middle Miocene, probably related with the increasing closure of the Central American Seaway acting as a barrier. The highest faunal similarity between the assemblages from the EP and the WA at the early Miocene could be related to the lack of a barrier back then, but increased sampling is needed to substantiate this hypothesis.

SUBMITTER: Carrillo-Briceno JD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6055692 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Shark and ray diversity in the Tropical America (Neotropics)-an examination of environmental and historical factors affecting diversity.

Carrillo-Briceño Jorge Domingo JD Carrillo Juan D JD Aguilera Orangel Antonio OA Sanchez-Villagra Marcelo R MR

PeerJ 20180720

We present the first comprehensive review of the present and past shark and ray diversity in marine waters of Tropical America, examining the patterns of distribution in the Eastern Central Pacific (EP) and Western Central Atlantic (WA) realms. We identified the major regions of diversity and of endemism, and explored the relations to physical variables. We found a strong relationship between shark and ray diversity with area and coastal length of each province. The Tropical Northwestern Atlanti ...[more]

PMID: 30042900

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Project description:Waterbirds have a major functional role in wetlands, and understanding how functional traits of waterbirds depend on environmental characteristics can facilitate management of ecosystems and their services. We investigate how the waterbird community in a Neotropical river-floodplain system responds to environmental gradients, identifying how they affect waterbird species richness, functional diversity (measured as functional dispersion) and functional composition (specific functional traits). We sampled 22 lakes in the Upper Paraná floodplain system in southern Brazil, and modelled avian functional diversity and species richness as a function of environmental variables. Then we used a unified RLQ and fourth-corner analysis to evaluate environment-trait relationships. Waterbird species richness and functional diversity varied according to different environmental variables. Lake area and diversity of aquatic vegetation were associated with avian species richness, while relative abundance of grass and emergent macrophytes and mean and variation of depth were related to functional diversity. Furthermore, changes in functional diversity seemed to be mainly driven by presence of species that depend on perches for foraging (e.g. kingfishers, cormorants, and kites), whose presence was mainly associated with deep water and emergent macrophytes. Nevertheless, changes in functional diversity and functional composition did not depend on exactly the same set of environmental variables, suggesting that trait combinations (e.g. below surface feeders who feed on fish), not only specific traits, are important drivers of the variation in functional diversity between lakes. Given the observed differences in responses of species richness and functional diversity, both these diversity metrics should be used as complementary tools in ecosystem management. Furthermore, our results show that functional diversity and composition are partially coupled, suggesting that although functional diversity is influenced by the environmental filtering of particular traits, it also reflects other ecological mechanisms (e.g. competitive interactions among species).

Dataset Information

Shark and ray diversity in the Tropical America (Neotropics)-an examination of environmental and historical factors affecting diversity.

Publications

Shark and ray diversity in the Tropical America (Neotropics)-an examination of environmental and historical factors affecting diversity.

Similar Datasets

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