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Cordero RD, Jackson DA. Can fish species co-occurrence patterns be predicted by their trait dissimilarities? ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 10:230160. [PMID: 38026008 PMCID: PMC10645092 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.230160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2023] [Accepted: 10/16/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023]
Abstract
Trait-based analyses have been successful in determining and predicting species association outcomes in diverse communities. Most studies have limited the scope of this approach to the biotic responses of a small number of species or geographical regions. We focused on determining whether three biologically relevant traits (body size, temperature preference and trophic level) influence the patterns of co-occurrence between multiple species. We used fish species presence/absence from 9204 lakes in Ontario, Canada, to obtain effect sizes of 2001 species-pair co-occurrence values, using a null model approach. Euclidean distances between each species-pair were calculated for each of the three traits selected. Multiple regression models and randomization tests were used to determine the direction and significance of the relationship of each trait with the observed co-occurrence values. The results show that species temperature preference was significantly related to co-occurrence patterns, indicating the effect of environmental filtering. Trophic level was significantly related to co-occurrence values for both linear and quadratic terms, suggesting that segregation between species is driven by large differences in this trait (predation effects). Unexpectedly, body size was not significantly related to the observed co-occurrence patterns. We provide a new approach to test relationships between species assemblages and trait conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruben D. Cordero
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto Faculty of Arts & Science¸ Toronto, Ontario Canada, M5S 3G3
| | - Donald A. Jackson
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto Faculty of Arts & Science¸ Toronto, Ontario Canada, M5S 3G3
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2
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Bird Beta Diversity in Sharp Contrasting Altai Landscapes: Locality Connectivity Is the Influential Factor on Community Composition. Animals (Basel) 2022; 12:ani12182341. [PMID: 36139201 PMCID: PMC9495265 DOI: 10.3390/ani12182341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2022] [Revised: 08/21/2022] [Accepted: 09/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Understanding the ecological processes involved in establishing a metacommunity, a collection of small communities linked by species dispersal, could help with biodiversity conservation. In this work, we examine how local community connectivity affects the distributional patterns of various bird species across metacommunities in the strikingly different Altai landscapes. We discovered that connectivity was most important for determining community composition in metacommunities. High beta diversity and a high turnover component in the research region showed that regional-scale conservation efforts should consider overall biodiversity. Although they are not part of the Altai-Sayan biodiversity ecoregion, the riparian and desert landscapes are essential to the birds that reside in the mountain ranges and should be regarded as integral parts of the ecoregion, and high connectivity stepping-stone habitats in these landscapes should be protected. Abstract Located on the southwest slope and plain areas of the Altai Mountains in China, this study aims to explore bird composition variation (beta diversity) in mountain landscape (metacommunity M), riparian landscape (metacommunity R), desert landscape (metacommunity D) and across the three landscapes (metacommunity A), and to assess how patch connectivity with environmental and spatial factors influence species distributional patterns across multiple metacommunities. In 78 transect lines over the study area, 9724 detections of 139 bird species were detected. We calculated the beta diversity, its turnover and nestedness components in four metacommunities. We used the variation partitioning method to investigate the relative importance between the environment, spatial variation and locality connectivity in driving bird community composition variation. We found high beta diversities with a small contribution of nestedness components in all four metacommunities. When only a single set of predictors is contained in the model, the predictor that best explains the variation of bird community composition is connectivity in metacommunity M, R and D and spatial predictor in metacommunity A. In all three sets of predictors, 73.8~85.4% of variations of community composition can be explained in the four metacommunities, and connectivity always contributed the most. High beta diversity and a high turnover component imply that regional-scale conservation efforts should be thought of as preserving overall biodiversity. A conservation strategy is to keep stepping-stone habitats with good connectivity in the middle of the riparian landscape. Along with the Altai-Sayan biodiversity ecoregion, the desert and riparian environments are essential for birds residing in the mountainous terrain. Furthermore, they should be regarded as integral parts of the ecoregion.
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3
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Eden R, Manica A, Mitchell EG. Metacommunity analyses show an increase in ecological specialisation throughout the Ediacaran period. PLoS Biol 2022; 20:e3001289. [PMID: 35580078 PMCID: PMC9113585 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001289] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2021] [Accepted: 03/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The first animals appear during the late Ediacaran (572 to 541 Ma); an initial diversity increase was followed reduction in diversity, often interpreted as catastrophic mass extinction. We investigate Ediacaran ecosystem structure changes over this time period using the “Elements of Metacommunity Structure” framework to assess whether this diversity reduction in the Nama was likely caused by an external mass extinction, or internal metacommunity restructuring. The oldest metacommunity was characterised by taxa with wide environmental tolerances, and limited specialisation or intertaxa associations. Structuring increased in the second oldest metacommunity, with groups of taxa sharing synchronous responses to environmental gradients, aggregating into distinct communities. This pattern strengthened in the youngest metacommunity, with communities showing strong environmental segregation and depth structure. Thus, metacommunity structure increased in complexity, with increased specialisation and resulting in competitive exclusion, not a catastrophic environmental disaster, leading to diversity loss in the terminal Ediacaran. These results reveal that the complex eco-evolutionary dynamics associated with Cambrian diversification were established in the Ediacaran. This study shows that the eco-evolutionary dynamics of metazoan diversification known from the Cambrian Period started earlier in the Ediacaran Period with the Avalon assemblage and increased in complexity towards the Phanerozoic as new anatomical innovations appeared, culminating in the “Cambrian Explosion."
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca Eden
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Andrea Manica
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Emily G. Mitchell
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
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4
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Krasnov BR, Korallo-Vinarskaya N, Vinarski MV, Khokhlova IS. Temporal variation of metacommunity structure in arthropod ectoparasites harboured by small mammals: the effects of scale and climatic fluctuations. Parasitol Res 2022; 121:537-549. [PMID: 35076775 DOI: 10.1007/s00436-021-07416-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2021] [Accepted: 12/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
We applied the elements of metacommunity structure (EMS) approach and studied the temporal dynamics of metacommunity structure in arthropod ectoparasites (fleas, gamasid mites and ixodid ticks) harboured by six small mammalian hosts sampled for three decades in the same locality in Western Siberia at three hierarchical scales (inframetacommunities, component metacommunities and a compound metacommunity). All metacommunities were positively coherent. Inframetacommunity structures varied across sampling periods in all host species. The main structural pattern in an inframetacommunity of the same host varied across sampling times but was mostly characterized by clumped species distributions (Clementsian, Gleasonian and their quasi-versions). Component metacommunities in five of the six host species were characterized by either a Clementsian or a quasi-Clementsian distribution. In four of the six host species, this pattern was driven by mite distribution. The temporal structure of compound metacommunity was characterized by a Clementsian pattern. In contrast to the majority of component metacommunities, this pattern was driven by fleas, whereas the temporal structure of gamasid mite compound metacommunities demonstrated a Gleasonian distribution. The temporal gradient in infracommunity composition was not associated with temporal changes in either air temperature or precipitation, whereas the precipitation gradient was positively correlated with the structure of component (in five host species) and compound metacommunities. In conclusion, the best-fit metacommunity structure of ectoparasites varies temporally due to temporal changes in distribution patterns that can be associated with year-to-year climatic variation, affecting both hosts and parasites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Boris R Krasnov
- Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Swiss Institute for Dryland Environmental and Energy Research, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, 8499000, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel.
| | - Natalia Korallo-Vinarskaya
- Laboratory of Arthropod-Borne Viral Infections, Omsk Research Institute of Natural Foci Infections, Mira str. 7, 644080, Omsk, Russia.,Omsk State Pedagogical University, Tukhachevskogo Emb. 14, 644099, Omsk, Russia
| | - Maxim V Vinarski
- Laboratory of Macroecology and Biogeography of Invertebrates, Saint-Petersburg State University, University Emb. 7/9, 199034, Saint-Petersburg, Russia.,Omsk State University, Neftezavodskaya Str. 11, 644053, Omsk, Russia
| | - Irina S Khokhlova
- Wyler Department of Dryland Agriculture, French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel
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5
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Arranz I, Fournier B, Lester NP, Shuter BJ, Peres-Neto PR. Species compositions mediate biomass conservation: the case of lake fish communities. Ecology 2021; 103:e3608. [PMID: 34905222 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3608] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2021] [Revised: 09/07/2021] [Accepted: 09/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Environmental and geographical factors are known to influence the number, distribution and combination of species that coexist within ecological communities. This, in turn, should influence ecosystem functions such as biomass conservation, or the ability of a community to sustain biomass from small to large organisms. We tested this hypothesis by assessing the role of environmental factors in determining how biomass is conserved in over 600 limnetic fish communities spread across a broad geographic gradient in Canada. Comprehensive and accurate information on water conditions and community characteristics such as taxonomy, abundance, biomass and size distributions were used in our assessment. Results showed that species combinations emerge as one of the main predictors of biomass conservation among the effects of individual species and abiotic factors. Our study highlights the strong role that geographic patterns in the distribution of species can play in shaping key ecosystem functions, with consequences for ecosystem services such as the provision of harvestable fish biomass.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ignasi Arranz
- Department of Biology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Bertrand Fournier
- Department of Biology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.,Institute of Environmental Science and Geography, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Nigel P Lester
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Science and Research Branch, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, Ontario, Canada
| | - Brian J Shuter
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Science and Research Branch, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, Ontario, Canada
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6
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Cordero RD, Jackson DA. Abiotic factors influence species co-occurrence patterns of lake fishes. J Anim Ecol 2021; 90:2859-2874. [PMID: 34498261 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13587] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2021] [Accepted: 08/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Abiotic factors are recognized for their strong influence on community structure. Habitat diversity is related to resource availability that influences species richness and abundance. In lakes, surface area and depth have been used as measures of the size and diversity of habitat, and have strong effects on the structure of entire communities. We tested whether abiotic variables, related to habitat size, influence co-occurrence patterns of species pairs of fishes by analysing groups of lakes within a specific area and depth categories in two regions in Ontario, Canada. We used null models to obtain co-occurrence patterns and standard effect sizes for each species pair within each area and depth category. We estimated standard effect sizes relative to lake area or depth and determined whether species co-occurrence patterns change systematically as these measures of habitat increase. We evaluated groups of species where factors such as predation and habitat filtering have been shown to structure those assemblages, and we tested whether area and depth alter the species associations and our interpretation of these relationships. We found significant differences between the observed and expected distributions of regression slopes relating co-occurrences to area and depth in both regions across all species, which indicated the strong influence of both variables on the overall co-occurrence patterns. We observed a significant negative trend of the co-occurrence patterns across lake area categories for the predator-prey species, indicating that the effect of predation was stronger in smaller lakes, but it was reduced in larger lakes, possibly due to increased habitat and resource availability. We show that pooling results as done in standard community null models can lead to Type II errors due to the 'cancellation' of opposing ecological signals. Our results demonstrate the effect of environmental variables on species co-occurrence patterns, but the divergent results obtained between geographical regions suggest that such patterns are context-dependent. This study emphasizes the importance of considering abiotic factors in null models of species co-occurrence to obtain reliable and detailed information about the association patterns between species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruben D Cordero
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Donald A Jackson
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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7
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Ganassin MJM, Muñoz-Mas R, de Oliveira FJM, Muniz CM, Dos Santos NCL, García-Berthou E, Gomes LC. Effects of reservoir cascades on diversity, distribution, and abundance of fish assemblages in three Neotropical basins. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 778:146246. [PMID: 33721650 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146246] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2020] [Revised: 02/23/2021] [Accepted: 02/27/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
River systems are characterized by the existence of longitudinal processes structuring fish assemblages. However, the construction of dams, many of them built in cascades, are disrupting these processes worldwide. Here, we analyzed the fish assemblages across reservoir cascades in three Brazilian river basins (Iguaçu, Paranapanema, and São Francisco) to identify whether there is a spatial convergent pattern and to infer the mechanisms structuring metacommunities in these Neotropical rivers. Linear models were used to assess the effect of reservoir cascades, and the associated morphological, spatial and environmental variables, on the species richness and diversity along them. We analyzed if reservoir cascades produce similar species distribution patterns using the elements of metacommunity structure framework and beta diversity and its components. Finally, super-organizing maps were used to find common trends in species abundances and the environmental, morphological, and spatial variables along cascades. The negative relationship between species richness and diversity and the position in the cascade indicated diversity declines along cascades. However, the resulting metacommunities varied in each river basin. They conformed a quasi-Gleasonian structure, a Clementsian structure, and a nested structure with stochastic species loss in the Iguaçu, Paranapanema, and São Francisco River basins, respectively. Generally, total beta-diversity (βsor) and species turnover (βsim) between pairs of reservoirs increased along reservoir cascades, especially at the downstream end, whereas nestedness (βsne) depicted distinct trends in each river basin. By contrast, there were general decreases in species abundances along cascades, especially downstream the fourth reservoir, with very few species benefiting from such situation. In general, species present in the downstream reservoirs were subsets of the species present in the upstream reservoirs (particularly in the São Francisco River Basin), while some had singular responses to the environmental gradient and appeared or disappeared at random. Although the cascade has an effect on fish assemblages, reservoir characteristics and operation also influence them. Our study highlights the impact of such structures and shows general patterns of fish assemblages that should help to mitigate the resulting ecological impacts and assist the process of infrastructure planning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Julia Mileo Ganassin
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia de Ambientes Aquáticos Continentais, Departamento de Biologia, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Paraná, Brazil; GRECO, Institute of Aquatic Ecology, University of Girona, 17003 Girona, Catalonia, Spain.
| | - Rafael Muñoz-Mas
- GRECO, Institute of Aquatic Ecology, University of Girona, 17003 Girona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Fagner Junior Machado de Oliveira
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia de Ambientes Aquáticos Continentais, Departamento de Biologia, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Paraná, Brazil
| | - Carolina Mendes Muniz
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia de Ambientes Aquáticos Continentais, Departamento de Biologia, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Paraná, Brazil; GRECO, Institute of Aquatic Ecology, University of Girona, 17003 Girona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Natália Carneiro Lacerda Dos Santos
- Departamento de Engenharia de Pesca e Ciências Biológicas, Laboratório de Ecologia e Conservação, Universidade Estadual de Santa Catarina, Laguna, Santa Catarina, Brazil
| | - Emili García-Berthou
- GRECO, Institute of Aquatic Ecology, University of Girona, 17003 Girona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Luiz Carlos Gomes
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia de Ambientes Aquáticos Continentais, Departamento de Biologia, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Paraná, Brazil; Núcleo de Pesquisas em Limnologia, Ictiologia e Aquicultura, Universidade Estadual de Maringá (UEM), Paraná, Brazil
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8
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Water quality drives the regional patterns of an algal metacommunity in interconnected lakes. Sci Rep 2021; 11:13601. [PMID: 34193969 PMCID: PMC8245656 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-93178-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2020] [Accepted: 06/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The metacommunity approach provides insights into how the biological communities are assembled along the environmental variations. The current study presents the importance of water quality on the metacommunity structure of algal communities in six river-connected lakes using long-term (8 years) monitoring datasets. Elements of metacommunity structure were analyzed to evaluate whether water quality structured the metacommunity across biogeographic regions in the riverine ecosystem. The algal community in all lakes was found to exhibit Clementsian or quasi-Clementsian structure properties such as significant turnover, grouped and species sorting indicating that the communities responded to the environmental gradient. Reciprocal averaging clearly classified the lakes into three clusters according to the geographical region in river flow (upstream, midstream, and downstream). The dispersal patterns of algal genera, including Aulacoseira, Cyclotella, Stephanodiscus, and Chlamydomonas across the regions also supported the spatial-based classification results. Although conductivity, chemical oxygen demand, and biological oxygen demand were found to be important variables (loading > |0.5|) of the entire algal community assembly, water temperature was a critical factor in water quality associated with community assembly in each geographical area. These results support the notion that the structure of algal communities is strongly associated with water quality, but the relative importance of variables in structuring algal communities differed by geological regions.
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9
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He P, Montiglio PO, Somveille M, Cantor M, Farine DR. The role of habitat configuration in shaping animal population processes: a framework to generate quantitative predictions. Oecologia 2021; 196:649-665. [PMID: 34159423 PMCID: PMC8292241 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-021-04967-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2020] [Accepted: 06/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
By shaping where individuals move, habitat configuration can fundamentally structure animal populations. Yet, we currently lack a framework for generating quantitative predictions about the role of habitat configuration in modulating population outcomes. To address this gap, we propose a modelling framework inspired by studies using networks to characterize habitat connectivity. We first define animal habitat networks, explain how they can integrate information about the different configurational features of animal habitats, and highlight the need for a bottom–up generative model that can depict realistic variations in habitat potential connectivity. Second, we describe a model for simulating animal habitat networks (available in the R package AnimalHabitatNetwork), and demonstrate its ability to generate alternative habitat configurations based on empirical data, which forms the basis for exploring the consequences of alternative habitat structures. Finally, we lay out three key research questions and demonstrate how our framework can address them. By simulating the spread of a pathogen within a population, we show how transmission properties can be impacted by both local potential connectivity and landscape-level characteristics of habitats. Our study highlights the importance of considering the underlying habitat configuration in studies linking social structure with population-level outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peng He
- Department of Collective Behavior, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz, Germany. .,Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany. .,Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany. .,Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Science, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
| | | | - Marius Somveille
- Birdlife International, The David Attenborough Building, Cambridge, UK.,Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA
| | - Mauricio Cantor
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.,Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Science, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Department for the Ecology of Animal Societies, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz, Germany.,Departamento de Ecologia e Zoologia, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil
| | - Damien R Farine
- Department of Collective Behavior, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz, Germany.,Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.,Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Science, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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10
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Vieira TB, Brasil LS, da Silva LCN, Tejerina‐Garro FL, de Aquino PDPU, Pompeu PS, de Marco P. Elements of fish metacommunity structure in Neotropical freshwater streams. Ecol Evol 2020; 10:12024-12035. [PMID: 33209267 PMCID: PMC7663076 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.6804] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2020] [Revised: 08/17/2020] [Accepted: 08/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The identification of the mechanisms underlying patterns of species co-occurrence is a way to identify which process(es) (niche, neutral, or both) structure metacommunities. The current paper had the goal of identifying patterns of co-occurrence in Neotropical stream fish and determining which processes structure the fish metacommunity, and identifying any gradients underlying this structure. Results indicated that the metacommunity formed by the species pool was structured by a pattern of nested co-occurrence (hyperdispersed species loss) and a mass-effect mechanism. However, a set of core species, displaying a Clementsian pattern, was structured by a species-sorting mechanism. Both, hyperdispersed species loss and the Clementsian patterns point to a discrete set of communities within the metacommunity. These communities could be isolated by the water physicochemical conditions or morphological characteristics of the stream channel.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thiago Bernardi Vieira
- Laboratório de Ictiologia de AltamiraFaculdade de Ciências BiológicasUniversidade Federal do ParáAltamiraParáBrazil
| | | | - Liriann Chrisley N. da Silva
- Laboratório de Ictiologia de AltamiraFaculdade de Ciências BiológicasUniversidade Federal do ParáAltamiraParáBrazil
| | - Francisco Leonardo Tejerina‐Garro
- Centro de Biologia AquáticaEscola de Ciências Agrárias e BiológicasPontifícia Universidade Católica de GoiásGoiâniaGoiásBrazil
- Programa de Pós‐Graduação em SociedadeTecnologia e Meio ambienteUniEVANGÉLICAAnápolisGoiásBrazil
| | | | - Paulo S. Pompeu
- Departamento de BiologiaUniversidade Federal de LavrasLavrasMinas GeraisBrazil
| | - Paulo de Marco
- Departamento de EcologiaInstituto de Ciências BiológicasUniversidade Federal de Goiás Campus IIGoiâniaGoiásBrazil
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11
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Andersen T, Hessen DO, Håll JP, Khomich M, Kyle M, Lindholm M, Rasconi S, Skjelbred B, Thrane J, Walseng B. Congruence, but no cascade-Pelagic biodiversity across three trophic levels in Nordic lakes. Ecol Evol 2020; 10:8153-8165. [PMID: 32788968 PMCID: PMC7417247 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.6514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2020] [Revised: 05/26/2020] [Accepted: 06/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Covariation in species richness and community structure across taxonomical groups (cross-taxon congruence) has practical consequences for the identification of biodiversity surrogates and proxies, as well as theoretical ramifications for understanding the mechanisms maintaining and sustaining biodiversity. We found there to exist a high cross-taxon congruence between phytoplankton, zooplankton, and fish in 73 large Scandinavian lakes across a 750 km longitudinal transect. The fraction of the total diversity variation explained by local environment alone was small for all trophic levels while a substantial fraction could be explained by spatial gradient variables. Almost half of the explained variation could not be resolved between local and spatial factors, possibly due to confounding issues between longitude and landscape productivity. There is strong consensus that the longitudinal gradient found in the regional fish community results from postglacial dispersal limitations, while there is much less evidence for the species richness and community structure gradients at lower trophic levels being directly affected by dispersal limitation over the same time scale. We found strong support for bidirectional interactions between fish and zooplankton species richness, while corresponding interactions between phytoplankton and zooplankton richness were much weaker. Both the weakening of the linkage at lower trophic levels and the bidirectional nature of the interaction indicates that the underlying mechanism must be qualitatively different from a trophic cascade.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tom Andersen
- Department of BiosciencesUniversity of OsloOsloNorway
| | - Dag O. Hessen
- Department of BiosciencesUniversity of OsloOsloNorway
| | - Johnny P. Håll
- Department of BiosciencesUniversity of OsloOsloNorway
- Norwegian Institute for Water ResearchOsloNorway
| | - Maryia Khomich
- Department of BiosciencesUniversity of OsloOsloNorway
- Nofima ASÅsNorway
| | | | - Markus Lindholm
- Norwegian Institute for Water ResearchOsloNorway
- Rudolf Steiner University CollegeOsloNorway
| | - Serena Rasconi
- Department of BiosciencesUniversity of OsloOsloNorway
- WasserCluster – Biological Station LunzInter‐University Centre for Aquatic Ecosystem ResearchLunz am SeeAustria
| | | | - Jan‐Erik Thrane
- Department of BiosciencesUniversity of OsloOsloNorway
- Norwegian Institute for Water ResearchOsloNorway
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12
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Jabot F, Laroche F, Massol F, Arthaud F, Crabot J, Dubart M, Blanchet S, Munoz F, David P, Datry T. Assessing metacommunity processes through signatures in spatiotemporal turnover of community composition. Ecol Lett 2020; 23:1330-1339. [PMID: 32567194 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13523] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2020] [Revised: 02/03/2020] [Accepted: 04/06/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Although metacommunity ecology has been a major field of research in the last decades, with both conceptual and empirical outputs, the analysis of the temporal dynamics of metacommunities has only emerged recently and consists mostly of repeated static analyses. Here we propose a novel analytical framework to assess metacommunity processes using path analyses of spatial and temporal diversity turnovers. We detail the principles and practical aspects of this framework and apply it to simulated datasets to illustrate its ability to decipher the respective contributions of entangled drivers of metacommunity dynamics. We then apply it to four empirical datasets. Empirical results support the view that metacommunity dynamics may be generally shaped by multiple ecological processes acting in concert, with environmental filtering being variable across both space and time. These results reinforce our call to go beyond static analyses of metacommunities that are blind to the temporal part of environmental variability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Franck Jabot
- Université Clermont Auvergne, INRAE, UR LISC, Centre de Clermont-Ferrand, 9 avenue Blaise Pascal CS 20085, F-63178, Aubière, France
| | - Fabien Laroche
- INRAE, UR EFNO, Centre de Nogent-sur-Vernisson, Nogent-sur-Vernisson, France
| | - François Massol
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 8198 - Evo-Eco-Paleo, SPICI group, F-59000, Lille, France.,Univ. Lille, CNRS, Inserm, CHU Lille, Institut Pasteur de Lille, U1019 - UMR 8204 - CIIL - Center for Infection and Immunity of Lille, F-59000, Lille, France
| | - Florent Arthaud
- Univ. Savoie Mont Blanc, INRAE, CARRTEL, 74200, Thonon-les-Bains, France
| | - Julie Crabot
- INRAE, UR Riverly, Centre de Lyon-Villeurbanne, 5 rue de la Doua, 69625, Villeurbanne Cedex, France
| | - Maxime Dubart
- CEFE UMR 5175, CNRS - Université de Montpellier - Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier - IRD - EPHE, 1919 route de Mende, 34293, Montpellier cedex 5, France
| | - Simon Blanchet
- CNRS, Université Toulouse III Paul Sabatier, Station d'Écologie Théorique et Expérimentale, UMR 5321, 2 route du CNRS, 09200, Moulis, France
| | - François Munoz
- University Grenoble-Alpes, LECA, Grenoble Cedex 9, France
| | - Patrice David
- CEFE UMR 5175, CNRS - Université de Montpellier - Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier - IRD - EPHE, 1919 route de Mende, 34293, Montpellier cedex 5, France
| | - Thibault Datry
- INRAE, UR Riverly, Centre de Lyon-Villeurbanne, 5 rue de la Doua, 69625, Villeurbanne Cedex, France
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Jeong SY, Choi JY, Kim TG. Coordinated Metacommunity Assembly and Spatial Distribution of Multiple Microbial Kingdoms within a Lake. MICROBIAL ECOLOGY 2020; 79:801-814. [PMID: 31705158 DOI: 10.1007/s00248-019-01453-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2019] [Accepted: 10/16/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Freshwater planktonic communities comprise a tremendous diversity of microorganisms. This study investigated the distribution patterns of microbial kingdoms (bacteria, fungi, protists, and microbial metazoans) within a lake ecosystem. Water samples were collected from 50 sites along the shoreline in a lake during an early eutrophication period, and MiSeq sequencing was performed with different marker genes. Metacommunity analyses revealed a bimodal occupancy-frequency distribution and a Clementsian gradient persisting throughout all microbial kingdoms, suggesting similar regional processes in all kingdoms. Variation partitioning revealed that environmental characteristics, macrophyte/macroinvertebrate composition, space coordinates, and distance-based Moran's eigenvector maps (dbMEM) together could explain up to 29% of the community variances in microbial kingdoms. Kingdom synchrony results showed strong couplings between kingdoms (R2 ≥ 0.31), except between Fungi and Metazoa (R2 = 0.09). Another variation partitioning revealed that microbial kingdoms could well explain their community variances up to 73%. Interestingly, the kingdom Protista was best synchronized with the other kingdoms. A correlation network showed that positive associations between kingdoms outnumbered the negative ones and that the kingdom Protista acted as a hub among kingdoms. Module analysis showed that network modules included multi-kingdom associations that were prevalent. Our findings suggest that protists coordinate community assembly and distribution of other kingdoms, and inter-kingdom interactions are a key determinant in shaping their community structures in a freshwater lake.
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Affiliation(s)
- So-Yeon Jeong
- Department of Microbiology, Pusan National University, Pusan, 46241, South Korea
| | - Jong-Yun Choi
- Division of Ecological Assessment, National Institute of Ecology, Seocheon, Choongnam, 33657, South Korea
| | - Tae Gwan Kim
- Department of Microbiology, Pusan National University, Pusan, 46241, South Korea.
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Murray-Stoker D, Murray-Stoker KM. Consistent metacommunity structure despite inconsistent drivers of assembly at the continental scale. J Anim Ecol 2020; 89:1678-1689. [PMID: 32221972 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13220] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2019] [Accepted: 02/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
A fundamental goal of community ecology is to understand the drivers of community assembly and diversity. Local factors acting on community assembly are typically related to environmental conditions while regional factors are typically related to dispersal. Previous research has not consistently demonstrated the importance of local or regional factors, but this is likely because these factors act in concert and not in isolation. Studies that simultaneously integrate local and regional factors into analyses of community assembly can be a useful avenue to further our understanding of this core concept in community ecology. Here, we aimed to identify metacommunity structure and diversity and the local and regional drivers of community assembly at the continental scale. We evaluated metacommunity structure and drivers of assembly of macroinvertebrate communities in 941 rivers and streams nested within nine ecoregions distributed across the conterminous United States. Pattern-based metacommunity analyses and boosted regression tree techniques were used to (a) assign metacommunity structures and (b) identify the environmental, landscape and network drivers of assembly. We also evaluated how biodiversity scaled across hierarchical levels and varied among ecoregions. Metacommunity structures were consistent for the conterminous United States and each of the nine ecoregion subsets, with each ecoregional metacommunity displaying a Clementsian structure. Environmental variables were the predominant drivers of assembly, suggesting the importance of species sorting and environmental filtering on community structure; however, the identity of the most influential environmental variables differed among ecoregions and suggested hierarchical filtering on assembly. Partitioned diversity was found to be lower at the local and ecoregional levels, but turnover in diversity among ecoregions was higher than expected. Our results demonstrate contingencies in community assembly, notwithstanding consistency in metacommunity structure and support the importance of environmental control over community assembly and biodiversity. Moreover, biodiversity at the continental scale is likely maintained through this inherent variation in the drivers of assembly and concomitant changes in community composition among ecoregions. We suggest that further work should evaluate the assembly of other facets of community structure and the underlying mechanisms of the contingency in assembly drivers.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Murray-Stoker
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Kelly M Murray-Stoker
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
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15
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Temperature-Dominated Driving Mechanisms of the Plant Diversity in Temperate Forests, Northeast China. FORESTS 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/f11020227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Climate, topography, and tree structure have different effects on plant diversity that vary with spatial scale. In this study, we assessed the contribution of these drivers and how they affect the vascular plant richness of different functional groups in a temperate forest ecosystem in Northeast China. We investigated about 0.986 million plants from 3160 sites to quantify the impact of annual mean temperature, sunshine duration, annual precipitation, standard deviation of diameter at breast height, and forest type on richness of vascular plants (total species, tree, treelet, shrub, and herb, separately) using the gradient boosting model. The results show that annual mean temperature had the strongest impact on plant richness. The tree richness peaked at intermediate annual mean temperature and sunshine duration and increased with annual precipitation. The Shannon diversity index and Simpson dominance index increased with annual precipitation and standard deviation of diameter at breast height, decreased with sunshine duration, and peaked at intermediate annual mean temperature and forest type. The total richness and understory richness increased with annual mean temperature and standard deviation of diameter at breast height and peaked at intermediate sunshine duration and annual precipitation. A comprehensive mechanism was found to regulate the plant diversity in forest ecosystems. The relationship between tree richness and annual mean temperature with latitudinal effect could be affected by the differences in number and size of tree individuals, indicating that plant diversity varies with the utilization of energy. The force driving plant richness varied with the functional group due to the different environmental resource requirements and the life history strategies of plants layers.
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Alves AT, Petsch DK, Barros F. Drivers of benthic metacommunity structure along tropical estuaries. Sci Rep 2020; 10:1739. [PMID: 32015384 PMCID: PMC6997391 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-58631-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2019] [Accepted: 01/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Community structure of many systems changes across space in many different ways (e.g., gradual, random or clumpiness). Accessing patterns of species spatial variation in ecosystems characterized by strong environmental gradients, such as estuaries, is essential to provide information on how species respond to them and for identification of potential underlying mechanisms. We investigated how environmental filters (i.e., strong environmental gradients that can include or exclude species in local communities), spatial predictors (i.e., geographical distance between communities) and temporal variations (e.g., different sampling periods) influence benthic macroinfaunal metacommunity structure along salinity gradients in tropical estuaries. We expected environmental filters to explain the highest proportion of total variation due to strong salinity and sediment gradients, and the main structure indicating species displaying individualistic response that yield a continuum of gradually changing composition (i.e., Gleasonian structure). First we identified benthic community structures in three estuaries at Todos os Santos Bay in Bahia, Brazil. Then we used variation partitioning to quantify the influences of environmental, spatial and temporal predictors on the structures identified. More frequently, the benthic metacommunity fitted a quasi-nested pattern with total variation explained by the shared influence of environmental and spatial predictors, probably because of ecological gradients (i.e., salinity decreases from sea to river). Estuarine benthic assemblages were quasi-nested likely for two reasons: first, nested subsets are common in communities subjected to disturbances such as one of our estuarine systems; second, because most of the estuarine species were of marine origin, and consequently sites closer to the sea would be richer while those more distant from the sea would be poorer subsets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreia Teixeira Alves
- Laboratório de Ecologia Bentônica, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia: Teoria, Aplicação e Valores, Instituto de Biologia & CIENAM, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Rua Barão de Geremoabo s/n., Campus Ondina, CEP 40170-115, Salvador, BA, Brazil.
| | - Danielle Katharine Petsch
- Núcleo de Pesquisas em Limnologia, Ictiologia e Aquicultura (Nupelia), Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia de Ambientes Aquáticos Continentais (PEA), Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Av. Colombo 5790, CEP 87020-900, Maringá, PR, Brazil
| | - Francisco Barros
- Laboratório de Ecologia Bentônica, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia: Teoria, Aplicação e Valores, Instituto de Biologia & CIENAM, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Rua Barão de Geremoabo s/n., Campus Ondina, CEP 40170-115, Salvador, BA, Brazil
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17
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Colossi Brustolin M, Nagelkerken I, Moitinho Ferreira C, Urs Goldenberg S, Ullah H, Fonseca G. Future ocean climate homogenizes communities across habitats through diversity loss and rise of generalist species. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2019; 25:3539-3548. [PMID: 31273894 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14745] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2019] [Accepted: 06/08/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Predictions of the effects of global change on ecological communities are largely based on single habitats. Yet in nature, habitats are interconnected through the exchange of energy and organisms, and the responses of local communities may not extend to emerging community networks (i.e., metacommunities). Using large mesocosms and meiofauna communities as a model system, we investigated the interactive effects of ocean warming and acidification on the structure of marine metacommunities from three shallow-water habitats: sandy soft-bottoms, marine vegetation, and rocky reef substrates. Primary producers and detritus-key food sources for meiofauna-increased in biomass under the combined effect of temperature and acidification. The enhanced bottom-up forcing boosted nematode densities but impoverished the functional and trophic diversity of nematode metacommunities. The combined climate stressors further homogenized meiofauna communities across habitats. Under present-day conditions metacommunities were structured by habitat type, but under future conditions they showed an unstructured random pattern with fast-growing generalist species dominating the communities of all habitats. Homogenization was likely driven by local species extinctions, reducing interspecific competition that otherwise could have prevented single species from dominating multiple niches. Our findings reveal that climate change may simplify metacommunity structure and prompt biodiversity loss, which may affect the biological organization and resilience of marine communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Colossi Brustolin
- Institute of Marine Science, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
- Centro de Estudos do Mar, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Pontal do Paraná, Brazil
| | - Ivan Nagelkerken
- Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences and The Environment Institute, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Camilo Moitinho Ferreira
- Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences and The Environment Institute, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Silvan Urs Goldenberg
- Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences and The Environment Institute, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Hadayet Ullah
- Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences and The Environment Institute, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Gustavo Fonseca
- Instituto do Mar, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Santos, Brazil
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18
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Lu M, Vasseur D, Jetz W. Beta Diversity Patterns Derived from Island Biogeography Theory. Am Nat 2019; 194:E52-E65. [DOI: 10.1086/704181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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19
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Nogueira A, Bragagnolo C, DaSilva M, Martins T, Lorenzo E, Perbiche-Neves G, Pinto-da-Rocha R. Historical signatures in the alpha and beta diversity patterns of Atlantic Forest harvestman communities (Arachnida: Opiliones). CAN J ZOOL 2019. [DOI: 10.1139/cjz-2018-0032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
The integration of ecology and historical biogeography is fostering the investigation of diversity patterns. We studied alpha and beta diversity patterns of Brazilian Atlantic Forest harvestman (Arachnida: Opiliones) communities and related them to environmental and historical factors. Our data bank contains 508 species from 63 sites, encompassing almost the entire latitudinal range of Atlantic Forest. Alpha diversity was higher in coastal sites in the south and southeast regions and decreased in sites inland, as well as in sites in the coastal northeast region, especially in northern Bahia state. Alpha diversity was positively influenced by precipitation and altitudinal range, but the low number of species in northeastern coastal sites seems to be more related to the historical distribution of Neotropical harvestman lineages than to recent environmental factors. Geographic distance was the most influential factor for beta diversity. Compositional changes were also remarkably congruent with areas of endemism delimited for Atlantic Forest harvestmen. The percentage of protected areas for each area of endemism was very unbalanced, and Espírito Santo and Pernambuco states were the least protected areas. The turnover process observed in the compositional changes indicates that conservation strategies should include as many reserves as possible because every community presents a unique set of species.
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Affiliation(s)
- A.A. Nogueira
- Instituto de Biociências – Universidade de São Paulo, Departamento de Zoologia, Rua do Matão, travessa 14, 321, 005508-900, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - C. Bragagnolo
- Departamento de Ecologia e Biologia Evolutiva, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Rua São Nicolau, 210, 09913-030, Diadema, SP, Brazil
| | - M.B. DaSilva
- Departamento de Sistemática e Ecologia, Centro de Ciências Exatas e da Natureza – UFPB, Cidade Universitária, João Pessoa, PB, Brazil
| | - T.K. Martins
- Departamento de Sistemática e Ecologia, Centro de Ciências Exatas e da Natureza – UFPB, Cidade Universitária, João Pessoa, PB, Brazil
| | - E.P. Lorenzo
- Centro de Conservação e Manejo de Fauna da Caatinga, Campus Ciências Agrárias – UNIVASF, Projeto de Irrigação Nilo Coelho, Petrolina, PE, Brazil
| | - G. Perbiche-Neves
- Centro de Ciências da Natureza, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Rodovia Lauri Simões de Barros, km 12, SP-189, Aracaçú, Buri, SP, Brazil
| | - R. Pinto-da-Rocha
- Instituto de Biociências – Universidade de São Paulo, Departamento de Zoologia, Rua do Matão, travessa 14, 321, 005508-900, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
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20
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Cordero RD, Jackson DA. Species‐pair associations, null models, and tests of mechanisms structuring ecological communities. Ecosphere 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.2797] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Ruben D. Cordero
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Toronto Toronto Ontario M5S3B2 Canada
| | - Donald A. Jackson
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Toronto Toronto Ontario M5S3B2 Canada
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21
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Do the pattern and strength of species associations in ectoparasite communities conform to biogeographic rules? Parasitol Res 2019; 118:1113-1125. [DOI: 10.1007/s00436-019-06255-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2019] [Accepted: 02/05/2019] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
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22
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Lozada‐Gobilard S, Stang S, Pirhofer‐Walzl K, Kalettka T, Heinken T, Schröder B, Eccard J, Joshi J. Environmental filtering predicts plant-community trait distribution and diversity: Kettle holes as models of meta-community systems. Ecol Evol 2019; 9:1898-1910. [PMID: 30847080 PMCID: PMC6392361 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.4883] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2018] [Revised: 11/22/2018] [Accepted: 12/07/2018] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Meta-communities of habitat islands may be essential to maintain biodiversity in anthropogenic landscapes allowing rescue effects in local habitat patches. To understand the species-assembly mechanisms and dynamics of such ecosystems, it is important to test how local plant-community diversity and composition is affected by spatial isolation and hence by dispersal limitation and local environmental conditions acting as filters for local species sorting.We used a system of 46 small wetlands (kettle holes)-natural small-scale freshwater habitats rarely considered in nature conservation policies-embedded in an intensively managed agricultural matrix in northern Germany. We compared two types of kettle holes with distinct topographies (flat-sloped, ephemeral, frequently plowed kettle holes vs. steep-sloped, more permanent ones) and determined 254 vascular plant species within these ecosystems, as well as plant functional traits and nearest neighbor distances to other kettle holes.Differences in alpha and beta diversity between steep permanent compared with ephemeral flat kettle holes were mainly explained by species sorting and niche processes and mass effect processes in ephemeral flat kettle holes. The plant-community composition as well as the community trait distribution in terms of life span, breeding system, dispersal ability, and longevity of seed banks significantly differed between the two habitat types. Flat ephemeral kettle holes held a higher percentage of non-perennial plants with a more persistent seed bank, less obligate outbreeders and more species with seed dispersal abilities via animal vectors compared with steep-sloped, more permanent kettle holes that had a higher percentage of wind-dispersed species. In the flat kettle holes, plant-species richness was negatively correlated with the degree of isolation, whereas no such pattern was found for the permanent kettle holes.Synthesis: Environment acts as filter shaping plant diversity (alpha and beta) and plant-community trait distribution between steep permanent compared with ephemeral flat kettle holes supporting species sorting and niche mechanisms as expected, but we identified a mass effect in ephemeral kettle holes only. Flat ephemeral kettle holes can be regarded as meta-ecosystems that strongly depend on seed dispersal and recruitment from a seed bank, whereas neighboring permanent kettle holes have a more stable local species diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sissi Lozada‐Gobilard
- Biodiversity Research/Systematic BotanyUniversity of PotsdamPotsdamGermany
- Berlin‐Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (BBIB)BerlinGermany
| | - Susanne Stang
- Biodiversity Research/Systematic BotanyUniversity of PotsdamPotsdamGermany
| | - Karin Pirhofer‐Walzl
- Berlin‐Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (BBIB)BerlinGermany
- Plant Ecology, Institut fuer BiologieFreie Universitaet BerlinBerlinGermany
- Leibniz‐Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF)MünchebergGermany
| | - Thomas Kalettka
- Leibniz‐Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF)MünchebergGermany
| | | | - Boris Schröder
- Berlin‐Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (BBIB)BerlinGermany
- Landscape Ecology and Environmental Systems Analysis, Institute of GeoecologyTechnische Universität BraunschweigBraunschweigGermany
| | - Jana Eccard
- Berlin‐Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (BBIB)BerlinGermany
- Animal EcologyUniversity of PotsdamPotsdamGermany
| | - Jasmin Joshi
- Biodiversity Research/Systematic BotanyUniversity of PotsdamPotsdamGermany
- Berlin‐Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (BBIB)BerlinGermany
- Institute for Landscape and Open SpaceHochschule für Technik HSR RapperswilRapperswilSwitzerland
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23
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Whippo R, Knight NS, Prentice C, Cristiani J, Siegle MR, O'Connor MI. Epifaunal diversity patterns within and among seagrass meadows suggest landscape‐scale biodiversity processes. Ecosphere 2018. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.2490] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Ross Whippo
- Department of Zoology and Biodiversity Research Centre University of British Columbia 2212 Main Mall Vancouver British Columbia V6T 1Z4 Canada
- Smithsonian Institution Tennenbaum Marine Observatories Network 647 Contees Wharf Road Edgewater Maryland 21037 USA
| | - Nicole S. Knight
- Department of Zoology and Biodiversity Research Centre University of British Columbia 2212 Main Mall Vancouver British Columbia V6T 1Z4 Canada
- Department of Biology McGill University 1205 Avenue Docteur Penfield Montreal Quebec H3A 1B1 Canada
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Apartado Balboa 0843‐03092 Ancon Republic of Panama
| | - Carolyn Prentice
- Department of Zoology and Biodiversity Research Centre University of British Columbia 2212 Main Mall Vancouver British Columbia V6T 1Z4 Canada
- School of Resource and Environmental Management Simon Fraser University 8888 University Drive Burnaby British Columbia V5A 1S6 Canada
| | - John Cristiani
- Department of Zoology and Biodiversity Research Centre University of British Columbia 2212 Main Mall Vancouver British Columbia V6T 1Z4 Canada
| | - Matthew R. Siegle
- Department of Zoology and Biodiversity Research Centre University of British Columbia 2212 Main Mall Vancouver British Columbia V6T 1Z4 Canada
| | - Mary I. O'Connor
- Department of Zoology and Biodiversity Research Centre University of British Columbia 2212 Main Mall Vancouver British Columbia V6T 1Z4 Canada
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24
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Marcilio-Silva V, Zwiener VP, Marques MCM. Metacommunity structure, additive partitioning and environmental drivers of woody plants diversity in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. DIVERS DISTRIB 2017. [DOI: 10.1111/ddi.12616] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Vinicius Marcilio-Silva
- Laboratório de Ecologia Vegetal; Departamento de Botânica; Setor de Ciências Biológicas; Universidade Federal do Paraná; Curitiba Paraná Brazil
| | - Victor P. Zwiener
- Laboratório de Ecologia Vegetal; Departamento de Botânica; Setor de Ciências Biológicas; Universidade Federal do Paraná; Curitiba Paraná Brazil
- Departamento de Biodiversidade; Setor Palotina; Universidade Federal do Paraná; Palotina Paraná Brazil
| | - Márcia C. M. Marques
- Laboratório de Ecologia Vegetal; Departamento de Botânica; Setor de Ciências Biológicas; Universidade Federal do Paraná; Curitiba Paraná Brazil
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25
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Hill MJ, Heino J, Thornhill I, Ryves DB, Wood PJ. Effects of dispersal mode on the environmental and spatial correlates of nestedness and species turnover in pond communities. OIKOS 2017. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.04266] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Matthew J. Hill
- Inst. of Science and the Environment, Univ. of Worcester, Henwick Grove, Worcester; WR2 6AJ UK
| | - Jani Heino
- Finnish Environment Inst., Natural Environment Centre, Biodiversity; Oulu, Finland
| | | | - David B. Ryves
- Centre for Hydrological and Ecosystem Science, Dept of Geography, Loughborough Univ., Loughborough; Leicestershire UK
| | - Paul J. Wood
- Centre for Hydrological and Ecosystem Science, Dept of Geography, Loughborough Univ., Loughborough; Leicestershire UK
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26
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Reichard M, Janáč M, Polačik M, Blažek R, Vrtílek M. Community assembly in Nothobranchius annual fishes: Nested patterns, environmental niche and biogeographic history. Ecol Evol 2017; 7:2294-2306. [PMID: 28405293 PMCID: PMC5383470 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.2851] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2016] [Revised: 01/20/2017] [Accepted: 02/07/2017] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
The assembly of local communities from regional species pools is shaped by historical aspects of distribution, environmental conditions, and biotic interactions. We studied local community assembly patterns in African annual killifishes of the genus Nothobranchius (Cyprinodontiformes), investigating data from 168 communities across the entire range of regionally co-existing species. Nothobranchius are small fishes associated with annually desiccating pools. We detected a nested pattern of local communities in one region (Southern Mozambique, with Nothobranchius furzeri as the core and dominant species), but no nestedness was found in the second region (Central Mozambique, with Nothobranchius orthonotus being the dominant species). A checkerboard pattern of local Nothobranchius community assembly was demonstrated in both regions. Multivariate environmental niche modeling revealed moderate differences in environmental niche occupancy between three monophyletic clades that largely co-occurred geographically and greater differences between strictly allopatric species within the clades. Most variation among species was observed along an altitudinal gradient; N. furzeri and Nothobranchius kadleci were absent from coastal plains, Nothobranchius pienaari, Nothobranchius rachovii, and Nothobranchius krysanovi were associated with lower altitude and N. orthonotus was intermediate and geographically most widespread species. We discuss implications for ecological and evolutionary research in this taxon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Reichard
- Institute of Vertebrate BiologyAcademy of Sciences of the Czech RepublicBrnoCzech Republic
| | - Michal Janáč
- Institute of Vertebrate BiologyAcademy of Sciences of the Czech RepublicBrnoCzech Republic
| | - Matej Polačik
- Institute of Vertebrate BiologyAcademy of Sciences of the Czech RepublicBrnoCzech Republic
| | - Radim Blažek
- Institute of Vertebrate BiologyAcademy of Sciences of the Czech RepublicBrnoCzech Republic
| | - Milan Vrtílek
- Institute of Vertebrate BiologyAcademy of Sciences of the Czech RepublicBrnoCzech Republic
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Brasil LS, Vieira TB, de Oliveira-Junior JMB, Dias-Silva K, Juen L. Elements of metacommunity structure in Amazonian Zygoptera among streams under different spatial scales and environmental conditions. Ecol Evol 2017; 7:3190-3200. [PMID: 28480018 PMCID: PMC5415516 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.2849] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2016] [Revised: 01/19/2017] [Accepted: 02/07/2017] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
An important aspect of conservation is to understand the founding elements and characteristics of metacommunities in natural environments, and the consequences of anthropogenic disturbance on these patterns. In natural Amazonian environments, the interfluves of the major rivers play an important role in the formation of areas of endemism through the historical isolation of species and the speciation process. We evaluated elements of metacommunity structure for Zygoptera (Insecta: Odonata) sampled in 93 Amazonian streams distributed in two distinct biogeographic regions (areas of endemism). Of sampled streams, 43 were considered to have experienced negligible anthropogenic impacts, and 50 were considered impacted by anthropogenic activities. Our hypothesis was that preserved (“negligible impact”) streams would present a Clementsian pattern, forming clusters of distinct species, reflecting the biogeographic pattern of the two regions, and that anthropogenic streams would present random patterns of metacommunity, due to the loss of more sensitive species and dominance of more tolerant species, which have higher dispersal ability and environmental tolerance. In negligible impact streams, the Clementsian pattern reflected a strong biogeographic pattern, which we discuss considering the areas of endemism of Amazonian rivers. As for communities in human‐impacted streams, a biotic homogenization was evident, in which rare species were suppressed and the most common species had become hyper‐dominant. Understanding the mechanisms that trigger changes in metacommunities is an important issue for conservation, because they can help create mitigation measures for the impacts of anthropogenic activities on biological communities, and so should be expanded to studies using other taxonomic groups in both tropical and temperate systems, and, wherever possible, at multiple spatial scales.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Thiago Bernardi Vieira
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biodiversidade e Conservação Universidade Federal do Pará Pará Brazil
| | - José Max Barbosa de Oliveira-Junior
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Zoologia Universidade Federal do Pará Pará Brazil.,Instituto de Ciências e Tecnologia das Águas Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará Santarém, Pará Brazil
| | | | - Leandro Juen
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Zoologia Universidade Federal do Pará Pará Brazil.,Instituto de Ciências Biológicas Universidade Federal do Pará Pará Brazil
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Average niche breadths of species in lake macrophyte communities respond to ecological gradients variably in four regions on two continents. Oecologia 2017; 184:219-235. [PMID: 28293743 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-017-3847-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2016] [Accepted: 02/27/2017] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Different species' niche breadths in relation to ecological gradients are infrequently examined within the same study and, moreover, species niche breadths have rarely been averaged to account for variation in entire ecological communities. We investigated how average environmental niche breadths (climate, water quality and climate-water quality niches) in aquatic macrophyte communities are related to ecological gradients (latitude, longitude, altitude, species richness and lake area) among four distinct regions (Finland, Sweden and US states of Minnesota and Wisconsin) on two continents. We found that correlations between the three different measures of average niche breadths and ecological gradients varied considerably among the study regions, with average climate and average water quality niche breadth models often showing opposite trends. However, consistent patterns were also found, such as widening of average climate niche breadths and narrowing of average water quality niche breadths of aquatic macrophytes along increasing latitudinal and altitudinal gradients. This result suggests that macrophyte species are generalists in relation to temperature variations at higher latitudes and altitudes, whereas species in southern, lowland lakes are more specialised. In contrast, aquatic macrophytes growing in more southern nutrient-rich lakes were generalists in relation to water quality, while specialist species are adapted to low-productivity conditions and are found in highland lakes. Our results emphasise that species niche breadths should not be studied using only coarse-scale data of species distributions and corresponding environmental conditions, but that investigations on different kinds of niche breadths (e.g., climate vs. local niches) also require finer resolution data at broad spatial extents.
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Gianuca AT, Declerck SAJ, Lemmens P, De Meester L. Effects of dispersal and environmental heterogeneity on the replacement and nestedness components of β-diversity. Ecology 2017; 98:525-533. [DOI: 10.1002/ecy.1666] [Citation(s) in RCA: 110] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2016] [Revised: 11/06/2016] [Accepted: 11/16/2016] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Andros T. Gianuca
- Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology, Evolution and Conservation; KU Leuven; Charles Deberiostraat 32 B 3000 Leuven Belgium
| | - Steven A. J. Declerck
- Department of Aquatic Ecology; Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW); P.O. Box 50 6700AB Wageningen The Netherlands
| | - Pieter Lemmens
- Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology, Evolution and Conservation; KU Leuven; Charles Deberiostraat 32 B 3000 Leuven Belgium
| | - Luc De Meester
- Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology, Evolution and Conservation; KU Leuven; Charles Deberiostraat 32 B 3000 Leuven Belgium
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30
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da Silva FR, Rossa-Feres DDC. Fragmentation gradients differentially affect the species range distributions of four taxonomic groups in semi-deciduous Atlantic forest. Biotropica 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/btp.12362] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Fernando R. da Silva
- Departamento de Ciências Ambientais; UFSCar - Universidade Federal de São Carlos; Campus Sorocaba; Sorocaba São Paulo Brazil
| | - Denise de Cerqueira Rossa-Feres
- Departamento de Zoologia e Botânica; Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho - UNESP; Campus de São José do Rio Preto; São José do Rio Preto SP Brazil
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31
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Ross MS, Sah JP, Ruiz PL, Spitzig AA, Subedi SC. Inferring implications of climate change in south Florida hardwood hammocks through analysis of metacommunity structure. DIVERS DISTRIB 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/ddi.12442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Michael S. Ross
- Earth and Environment Department Florida International University Miami FL 33199 USA
- Southeast Environmental Research Center Florida International University Miami FL 33199 USA
| | - Jay P. Sah
- Southeast Environmental Research Center Florida International University Miami FL 33199 USA
| | - Pablo L. Ruiz
- South Florida/Caribbean Network US National Park Service Palmetto Bay FL 33157 USA
| | - Adam A. Spitzig
- Ducks Unlimited Inc. 3074 Gold Canal Dr. Rancho Cordova CA 95670 USA
| | - Suresh C. Subedi
- Earth and Environment Department Florida International University Miami FL 33199 USA
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33
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Varying Patterns on Varying Scales: A Metacommunity Analysis of Nematodes in European Lakes. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0151866. [PMID: 27008422 PMCID: PMC4805234 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0151866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2015] [Accepted: 03/04/2016] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Ecological community patterns are often extremely complex and the factors with the greatest influence on community structure have yet to be identified. In this study we used the elements of metacommunity structure (EMS) framework to characterize the metacommunities of freshwater nematodes in 16 European lakes at four geographical scales (radius ranging from 80 m to 360 km). The site characteristics associated with site scores indicative of the structuring gradient were identified using Spearman rank correlations. The metacommunities of the 174 nematode species included in this analysis mostly had a coherent pattern. The degree of turnover increased with increasing scale. Ordination scores correlated with geographical variables on the larger scales and with the trophic state index on a regional scale. The association of the structuring gradient with spatial variables and the scale-dependent increase in turnover showed that nematode dispersal was limited. The different metacommunity patterns identified at the increasing geographical scales suggested different, scale-related mechanisms of species distribution, with species sorting dominating on smaller and mass effects on larger geographical scales.
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34
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Environmental filtering determines metacommunity structure in wetland microcrustaceans. Oecologia 2016; 181:193-205. [DOI: 10.1007/s00442-015-3540-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2014] [Accepted: 12/25/2015] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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Valanko S, Heino J, Westerbom M, Viitasalo M, Norkko A. Complex metacommunity structure for benthic invertebrates in a low-diversity coastal system. Ecol Evol 2015; 5:5203-5215. [PMID: 30151124 PMCID: PMC6102509 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.1767] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2014] [Revised: 09/01/2015] [Accepted: 09/10/2015] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The majority of studies in metacommunity ecology have focused on systems other than marine benthic ecosystems, thereby providing an impetus to broaden the focus of metacommunity research to comprise marine systems. These systems are more open than many other systems and may thus exhibit relatively less discrete patterns in community structure across space. Metacommunity structure of soft-sediment benthic invertebrates was examined using a fine-grained (285 sites) data set collected during one summer across a large spatial extent (1700 km2). We applied the elements of metacommunity structure (EMS) approach, allowing multiple hypothesis of variation in community structure to be tested. We demonstrated several patterns associated with environmental variation and associated processes that could simultaneously assemble species to occur at the sites. A quasi-Clementsian pattern was observed frequently, suggesting interdependent ecological relationships among species or similar response to an underlying environmental gradient across sites. A quasi-nested clumped species loss pattern was also observed, which suggests nested habitat specialization. Species richness declined with depth (from 0.5 to 44.8 m). We argue that sensitive species may survive in shallower water, which are more stable with regard to oxygen conditions and present greater habitat complexity, in contrast to deeper waters, which may experience periodic disturbance due to hypoxia. Future studies should better integrate disturbance in terms of temporal dynamics and dispersal rates in the EMS approach. We highlight that shallow water sites may act as sources of recruitment to deeper water sites that are relatively more prone to periodic disturbances due to hypoxia. However, these shallow sites are not currently monitored and should be better prioritized in future conservation strategies in marine systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Valanko
- International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES)DK‐1553Copenhagen VDenmark
- Tvärminne Zoological StationUniversity of HelsinkiFI‐10900HankoFinland
- BiodiversityNatural Environment CentreFinnish Environment Institute (SYKE)P.O. Box 413FI‐90014OuluFinland
| | - Jani Heino
- BiodiversityNatural Environment CentreFinnish Environment Institute (SYKE)P.O. Box 413FI‐90014OuluFinland
| | - Mats Westerbom
- Tvärminne Zoological StationUniversity of HelsinkiFI‐10900HankoFinland
- MetsähallitusNatural Heritage ServicesP.O. Box 94FI‐01301VantaaFinland
| | - Markku Viitasalo
- Marine Research CentreFinnish Environment Institute (SYKE)FI‐00251HelsinkiFinland
| | - Alf Norkko
- Tvärminne Zoological StationUniversity of HelsinkiFI‐10900HankoFinland
- Marine Research CentreFinnish Environment Institute (SYKE)FI‐00251HelsinkiFinland
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Tonkin JD, Sundermann A, Jähnig SC, Haase P. Environmental Controls on River Assemblages at the Regional Scale: An Application of the Elements of Metacommunity Structure Framework. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0135450. [PMID: 26270550 PMCID: PMC4536219 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0135450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2015] [Accepted: 07/22/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding factors that structure regional biodiversity is important for linking ecological and biogeographic processes. Our objective was to explore regional patterns in riverine benthic invertebrate assemblages in relation to their broad positioning along the river network and examine differences in composition, biodiversity (alpha and beta diversity), and environmental drivers. We up-scaled methods used to examine patterns in metacommunity structure (Elements of Metacommunity Structure framework) to examine faunal distribution patterns at the regional extent for 168 low-mountain stream invertebrate assemblages in central Germany. We then identified the most influential environmental factors using boosted regression trees. Faunal composition patterns were compartmentalised (Clementsian or quasi-Clementsian), with little difference from headwaters to large rivers, potentially reflecting the regional scale of the study, by crossing major catchment boundaries and incorporating different species pools. While idealised structures did not vary, environmental drivers of composition varied considerably between river sections and with alpha diversity. Prediction was substantially weaker, and the importance of space was greater, in large rivers compared to other sections suggesting a weakening in species sorting downstream. Further, there was a stronger transition in composition than for alpha diversity downstream. The stronger links with regional faunal composition than with richness further emphasises the importance of considering the alternative ways in which anthropogenic stressors are operating to affect biodiversity patterns. Our approach allowed bridging the gap between local (or metacommunity) and regional scales, providing key insights into drivers of regional biodiversity patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan D. Tonkin
- Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, D-63571 Gelnhausen, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Andrea Sundermann
- Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, D-63571 Gelnhausen, Germany
| | - Sonja C. Jähnig
- Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Department of Ecosystem Research, 12587 Berlin, Germany
| | - Peter Haase
- Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, D-63571 Gelnhausen, Germany
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Mihaljevic JR, Joseph MB, Johnson PTJ. Using multispecies occupancy models to improve the characterization and understanding of metacommunity structure. Ecology 2015; 96:1783-92. [DOI: 10.1890/14-1580.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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38
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De Marco Júnior P, Batista JD, Cabette HSR. Community assembly of adult odonates in tropical streams: an ecophysiological hypothesis. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0123023. [PMID: 25906243 PMCID: PMC4407983 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0123023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2014] [Accepted: 02/25/2015] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Community assembly theory is founded on the premise that the relative importance of local environmental processes and dispersal shapes the compositional structure of metacommunities. The species sorting model predicts that assemblages are dominated by the environmental filtering of species that are readily able to disperse to suitable sites. We propose an ecophysiological hypothesis (EH) for the mechanism underlying the organization of species-sorting odonate metacommunities based on the interplay of thermoregulation, body size and the degree of sunlight availability in small-to-medium tropical streams. Due to thermoregulatory restrictions, the EH predicts (i) that larger species are disfavored in small streams and (ii) that streams exhibit a nested compositional pattern characterized by species' size distribution. To test the EH, we evaluate the longitudinal distribution of adult Odonata at 19 sites in 1st- to 6th-order streams in the Tropical Cerrado of Brazil. With increasing channel width, the total abundance and species richness of Anisoptera increased, while the abundance of Zygoptera decreased. The first axis of an ordination analysis of the species abundance data was directly related to channel width. Mean and maximum thorax size are positively correlated to channel width, but no relationship was found for the minimum thorax size, suggesting that there is no lower size constraint on the occurrence of these species. Additionally, a nested compositional pattern related to body size was observed. Our results support the EH and its use as an ecological assembly rule based on abiotic factors. Forest cover functions as a filter to determine which species successfully colonize a given site within a metacommunity. As a consequence, the EH also indicates higher treats for small-bodied zygopterans in relation to the loss of riparian forests in tropical streams.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paulo De Marco Júnior
- Laboratorio de Teoria, Metacomunidades e Ecologia de Paisagens, Departamento de Ecologia, ICB, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, GO, Brasil
| | - Joana Darc Batista
- Laboratório de Entomologia, Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso (UNEMAT), Nova Xavantina, MT, Brasil
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40
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Heino J, Soininen J, Alahuhta J, Lappalainen J, Virtanen R. A comparative analysis of metacommunity types in the freshwater realm. Ecol Evol 2015; 5:1525-37. [PMID: 25897391 PMCID: PMC4395181 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.1460] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2015] [Accepted: 02/16/2015] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Most metacommunity studies have taken a direct mechanistic approach, aiming to model the effects of local and regional processes on local communities within a metacommunity. An alternative approach is to focus on emergent patterns at the metacommunity level through applying the elements of metacommunity structure (EMS; Oikos, 97, 2002, 237) analysis. The EMS approach has very rarely been applied in the context of a comparative analysis of metacommunity types of main microbial, plant, and animal groups. Furthermore, to our knowledge, no study has associated metacommunity types with their potential ecological correlates in the freshwater realm. We assembled data for 45 freshwater metacommunities, incorporating biologically highly disparate organismal groups (i.e., bacteria, algae, macrophytes, invertebrates, and fish). We first examined ecological correlates (e.g., matrix properties, beta diversity, and average characteristics of a metacommunity, including body size, trophic group, ecosystem type, life form, and dispersal mode) of the three elements of metacommunity structure (i.e., coherence, turnover, and boundary clumping). Second, based on those three elements, we determined which metacommunity types prevailed in freshwater systems and which ecological correlates best discriminated among the observed metacommunity types. We found that the three elements of metacommunity structure were not strongly related to the ecological correlates, except that turnover was positively related to beta diversity. We observed six metacommunity types. The most common were Clementsian and quasi-nested metacommunity types, whereas Random, quasi-Clementsian, Gleasonian, and quasi-Gleasonian types were less common. These six metacommunity types were best discriminated by beta diversity and the first axis of metacommunity ecological traits, ranging from metacommunities of producer organisms occurring in streams to those of large predatory organisms occurring in lakes. Our results showed that focusing on the emergent properties of multiple metacommunities provides information additional to that obtained in studies examining variation in local community structure within a metacommunity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jani Heino
- Biodiversity, Finnish Environment Institute, Natural Environment Centre P.O. Box 413, FI-90014, Oulu, Finland
| | - Janne Soininen
- Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki P.O. Box 64, FI-00014, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Janne Alahuhta
- Department of Geography, University of Oulu P.O. Box 3000, FI-90014, Oulu, Finland ; Finnish Environment Institute, Freshwater Centre, State of Surface Waters P.O. Box 413, FI-90014, Oulu, Finland
| | - Jyrki Lappalainen
- Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki P.O. Box 65, FI-00014, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Risto Virtanen
- Department of Biology, University of Oulu, Botanical Museum P.O. Box 3000, FI-90014, Oulu, Finland
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Suzán G, García-Peña GE, Castro-Arellano I, Rico O, Rubio AV, Tolsá MJ, Roche B, Hosseini PR, Rizzoli A, Murray KA, Zambrana-Torrelio C, Vittecoq M, Bailly X, Aguirre AA, Daszak P, Prieur-Richard AH, Mills JN, Guégan JF. Metacommunity and phylogenetic structure determine wildlife and zoonotic infectious disease patterns in time and space. Ecol Evol 2015; 5:865-73. [PMID: 25750713 PMCID: PMC4338969 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.1404] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2014] [Revised: 12/22/2014] [Accepted: 01/02/2015] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The potential for disease transmission at the interface of wildlife, domestic animals and humans has become a major concern for public health and conservation biology. Research in this subject is commonly conducted at local scales while the regional context is neglected. We argue that prevalence of infection at local and regional levels is influenced by three mechanisms occurring at the landscape level in a metacommunity context. First, (1) dispersal, colonization, and extinction of pathogens, reservoir or vector hosts, and nonreservoir hosts, may be due to stochastic and niche-based processes, thus determining distribution of all species, and then their potential interactions, across local communities (metacommunity structure). Second, (2) anthropogenic processes may drive environmental filtering of hosts, nonhosts, and pathogens. Finally, (3) phylogenetic diversity relative to reservoir or vector host(s), within and between local communities may facilitate pathogen persistence and circulation. Using a metacommunity approach, public heath scientists may better evaluate the factors that predispose certain times and places for the origin and emergence of infectious diseases. The multidisciplinary approach we describe fits within a comprehensive One Health and Ecohealth framework addressing zoonotic infectious disease outbreaks and their relationship to their hosts, other animals, humans, and the environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gerardo Suzán
- Departamento de Etología, Fauna Silvestre y Animales de Laboratorio, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria Zootecnia, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoMéxico, Distrito Federal, México
| | - Gabriel E García-Peña
- Departamento de Etología, Fauna Silvestre y Animales de Laboratorio, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria Zootecnia, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoMéxico, Distrito Federal, México
- UMR MIVEGEC, Maladies Infectieuses et Vecteurs: Ecologie, Génétique, Evolution et Contrôle UMR 5290 CNRS-IRD-UM1-UM2, Centre de Recherche IRD34394, Montpellier Cedex 5, France
- Centre de Synthèse et d'Analyse sur la Biodiversité – CESAB13857, Aix-en-Provence Cedex 3, France
| | | | - Oscar Rico
- Departamento de Etología, Fauna Silvestre y Animales de Laboratorio, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria Zootecnia, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoMéxico, Distrito Federal, México
| | - André V Rubio
- Departamento de Etología, Fauna Silvestre y Animales de Laboratorio, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria Zootecnia, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoMéxico, Distrito Federal, México
| | - María J Tolsá
- Departamento de Etología, Fauna Silvestre y Animales de Laboratorio, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria Zootecnia, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoMéxico, Distrito Federal, México
| | - Benjamin Roche
- UMR MIVEGEC, Maladies Infectieuses et Vecteurs: Ecologie, Génétique, Evolution et Contrôle UMR 5290 CNRS-IRD-UM1-UM2, Centre de Recherche IRD34394, Montpellier Cedex 5, France
| | | | - Annapaola Rizzoli
- Biodiversity and Molecular Ecology Department Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, San Michele all'AdigeTrento, Italy
| | | | | | - Marion Vittecoq
- UMR MIVEGEC, Maladies Infectieuses et Vecteurs: Ecologie, Génétique, Evolution et Contrôle UMR 5290 CNRS-IRD-UM1-UM2, Centre de Recherche IRD34394, Montpellier Cedex 5, France
| | - Xavier Bailly
- INRA, UR346 Epidémiologie AnimaleSaint Genès Champanelle, France
| | - A Alonso Aguirre
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason UniversityFairfax, Virginia
| | | | | | - James N Mills
- Population Biology, Ecology and Evolution Program, Emory UniversityAtlanta, Georgia
| | - Jean-Francois Guégan
- UMR MIVEGEC, Maladies Infectieuses et Vecteurs: Ecologie, Génétique, Evolution et Contrôle UMR 5290 CNRS-IRD-UM1-UM2, Centre de Recherche IRD34394, Montpellier Cedex 5, France
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Heino J, Alahuhta J. Elements of regional beetle faunas: faunal variation and compositional breakpoints along climate, land cover and geographical gradients. J Anim Ecol 2014; 84:427-41. [PMID: 25251566 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12287] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2014] [Accepted: 08/30/2014] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Regional faunas are structured by historical, spatial and environmental factors. We studied large-scale variation in four ecologically different beetle groups (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae, Carabidae, Hydrophiloidea, Cerambycidae) along climate, land cover and geographical gradients, examined faunal breakpoints in relation to environmental variables, and investigated the best fit pattern of assemblage variation (i.e. randomness, checkerboards, nestedness, evenly spaced, Gleasonian, Clementsian). We applied statistical methods typically used in the analysis of local ecological communities to provide novel insights into faunal compositional patterns at large spatial grain and geographical extent. We found that spatially structured variation in climate and land cover accounted for most variation in each beetle group in partial redundancy analyses, whereas the individual effect of each explanatory variable group was generally much less important in accounting for variation in provincial species composition. We also found that climate variables were most strongly associated with faunal breakpoints, with temperature-related variables alone accounting for about 20% of variation at the first node of multivariate regression tree for each beetle group. The existence of faunal breakpoints was also shown by the 'elements of faunal structure' analyses, which suggested Clementsian gradients across the provinces, that is, that there were two or more clear groups of species responding similarly to the underlying ecological gradients. The four beetle groups showed highly similar biogeographical patterns across our study area. The fact that temperature was related to faunal breakpoints in the species composition of each beetle group suggests that climate sets a strong filter to the distributions of species at this combination of spatial grain and spatial extent. This finding held true despite the ecological differences among the four beetle groups, ranging from fully aquatic to fully terrestrial and from herbivorous to predaceous species. The existence of Clementsian gradients may be a common phenomenon at large scales, and it is likely to be caused by crossing multiple species pools determined by climatic and historical factors on the distributions of species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jani Heino
- Finnish Environment Institute, Natural Environment Centre, Biodiversity, PO Box 413, FI-90014, Oulu, Finland
| | - Janne Alahuhta
- Department of Geography, University of Oulu, PO Box 3000, FI-90014, Oulu, Finland
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