scholarly journals Spatial Pattern of Species Richness among Terrestrial Mammals in China

Diversity ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 96
Author(s):  
Yao Chi ◽  
Jiechen Wang ◽  
Changbai Xi ◽  
Tianlu Qian ◽  
Caiying Sheng
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Spatial Pattern ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Geographical Information ◽  
Western China ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals ◽  
Richness Patterns ◽  
Forested Ecosystems

We describe large-scale patterns of terrestrial mammal distribution in China by using geographical information system (GIS) spatial analysis. Mammal taxa, examined by species, family, and order, were binned into 10 km × 10 km grids to explore the relationship between their spatial distribution and geographical factors potentially affecting the same. The spatial pattern of species richness revealed four agglomerations: high richness in the south, low in north, and two low richness areas in eastern and western China. Species richness patterns in Carnivora was the most similar to overall terrestrial mammals’ richness; however, species richness in different orders exhibited distributions distinct from the overall pattern. We found a negative relationship between richness and latitude gradient. Species richness was most strongly correlated with forested ecosystems, and was found to be higher at an elevation of 2000~2200 m, with greater altitudinal variation indicative of higher species richness.

scholarly journals The pitfalls of biodiversity proxies: Differences in richness patterns of birds, trees and understudied diversity across Amazonia

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Camila D. Ritter ◽  
Søren Faurby ◽  
Dominic J. Bennett ◽  
Luciano N. Naka ◽  
Hans ter Steege ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Local Environment ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
Taxonomic Group ◽  
Diversity Gradients ◽  
Richness Patterns ◽  
Taxonomic Groups ◽  
Micro Organisms

AbstractMost knowledge on biodiversity derives from the study of charismatic macro-organisms, such as birds and trees. However, the diversity of micro-organisms constitutes the majority of all life forms on Earth. Here, we ask if the patterns of richness inferred for macro-organisms are similar for micro-organisms. For this, we barcoded samples of soil, litter and insects from four localities on a west-to-east transect across Amazonia. We quantified richness as Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) in those samples using three molecular markers. We then compared OTU richness with species richness of two relatively well-studied organism groups in Amazonia: trees and birds. We find that OTU richness shows a declining west-to-east diversity gradient that is in agreement with the species richness patterns documented here and previously for birds and trees. These results suggest that most taxonomic groups respond to the same overall diversity gradients at large spatial scales. However, our results show a different pattern of richness in relation to habitat types, suggesting that the idiosyncrasies of each taxonomic group and peculiarities of the local environment frequently override large-scale diversity gradients. Our findings caution against using the diversity distribution of one taxonomic group as an indication of patterns of richness across all groups.

scholarly journals Explaining large-scale patterns of vertebrate diversity

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 20150506 ◽  
Author(s):  
John J. Wiens
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Comparative Methods ◽  
Phylogenetic Comparative Methods ◽  
Metabolic Rates ◽  
Diversification Rates ◽  
Richness Patterns ◽  
Current Species

The major clades of vertebrates differ dramatically in their current species richness, from 2 to more than 32 000 species each, but the causes of this variation remain poorly understood. For example, a previous study noted that vertebrate clades differ in their diversification rates, but did not explain why they differ. Using a time-calibrated phylogeny and phylogenetic comparative methods, I show that most variation in diversification rates among 12 major vertebrate clades has a simple ecological explanation: predominantly terrestrial clades (i.e. birds, mammals, and lizards and snakes) have higher net diversification rates than predominantly aquatic clades (i.e. amphibians, crocodilians, turtles and all fish clades). These differences in diversification rates are then strongly related to patterns of species richness. Habitat may be more important than other potential explanations for richness patterns in vertebrates (such as climate and metabolic rates) and may also help explain patterns of species richness in many other groups of organisms.

scholarly journals Testing Seven Hypotheses to Determine What Explains the Current Planthopper (Fulgoridae) Geographical and Species Richness Patterns in China

Insects ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 892
Author(s):  
Zheng-Xue Zhao ◽  
Lin Yang ◽  
Jian-Kun Long ◽  
Zhi-Min Chang ◽  
Zheng-Xiang Zhou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Net Primary Productivity ◽  
Model Averaging ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Environmental Variable ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Mean Annual Temperature ◽  
Spatial Error ◽  
Richness Patterns

Although many hypotheses have been proposed to understand the mechanisms underlying large-scale richness patterns, the environmental determinants are still poorly understood, particularly in insects. Here, we tested the relative contributions of seven hypotheses previously proposed to explain planthopper richness patterns in China. The richness patterns were visualized at a 1° × 1° grid size, using 14,722 distribution records for 1335 planthoppers. We used ordinary least squares and spatial error simultaneous autoregressive models to examine the relationships between richness and single environmental variables and employed model averaging to assess the environmental variable relative roles. Species richness was unevenly distributed, with high species numbers occurring in the central and southern mountainous areas. The mean annual temperature change since the Last Glacial Maximum was the most important factor for richness patterns, followed by mean annual temperature and net primary productivity. Therefore, historical climate stability, ambient energy, and productivity hypotheses were supported strongly, but orogenic processes and geological isolation may also play a vital role.

scholarly journals Patterns, determinants and models of woody plant diversity in China

2010 ◽  
Vol 278 (1715) ◽  
pp. 2122-2132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhiheng Wang ◽  
Jingyun Fang ◽  
Zhiyao Tang ◽  
Xin Lin
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Woody Plants ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Woody Species ◽  
Tropical Species ◽  
Controversial Issues ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
Distribution Maps ◽  
The Mean

What determines large-scale patterns of species richness remains one of the most controversial issues in ecology. Using the distribution maps of 11 405 woody species in China, we compared the effects of habitat heterogeneity, human activities and different aspects of climate, particularly environmental energy, water–energy dynamics and winter frost, and explored how biogeographic affinities (tropical versus temperate) influence richness–climate relationships. We found that the species richness of trees, shrubs, lianas and all woody plants strongly correlated with each other, and more strongly correlated with the species richness of tropical affinity than with that of temperate affinity. The mean temperature of the coldest quarter was the strongest predictor of species richness, and its explanatory power for species richness was significantly higher for tropical affinity than for temperate affinity. These results suggest that the patterns of woody species richness mainly result from the increasing intensity of frost filtering for tropical species from the equator/lowlands towards the poles/highlands, and hence support the freezing-tolerance hypothesis. A model based on these results was developed, which explained 76–85% of species richness variation in China, and reasonably predicted the species richness of woody plants in North America and the Northern Hemisphere.

scholarly journals Determinants and Congruence of Species Richness Patterns across Multiple Taxonomic Groups on a Regional Scale

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jörn Buse ◽  
Eva Maria Griebeler
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Species Richness ◽  
Spatial Patterns ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
External Validation ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
Richness Patterns ◽  
Taxonomic Groups ◽  
German Federal State

Applying multiple generalized regression models, we studied spatial patterns in species richness for different taxonomic groups (amphibians, reptiles, grasshoppers, plants, mosses) within the German federal state Rhineland-Palatinate (RP). We aimed (1) to detect their centres of richness, (2) to rate the influence of climatic and land-use parameters on spatial patterns, and (3) to test whether patterns are congruent between taxonomic groups in RP. Centres of species richness differed between taxonomic groups and overall richness was the highest in the valleys of large rivers and in different areas of southern RP. Climatic parameters strongly correlated with richness in all taxa whereas land use was less significant. Spatial richness patterns of all groups were to a certain extent congruent but differed between group pairs. The number of grasshoppers strongly correlated with the number of plants and with overall species richness. An external validation corroborated the generality of our species richness models.

Does habitat use explain large scale species richness patterns of aquatic beetles in Europe?

Ecography ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ignacio Ribera ◽  
Garth N. Foster ◽  
Alfried P. Vogler
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Habitat Use ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Aquatic Beetles ◽  
Richness Patterns

scholarly journals Does climate limit species richness by limiting individual species’ ranges?

2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1776) ◽  
pp. 20132695 ◽  
Author(s):  
Véronique Boucher-Lalonde ◽  
Jeremy T. Kerr ◽  
David J. Currie
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Natural Experiment ◽  
Migratory Birds ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Species Ranges ◽  
Number Of Species ◽  
Richness Patterns

Broad-scale geographical variation in species richness is strongly correlated with climate, yet the mechanisms underlying this correlation are still unclear. We test two broad classes of hypotheses to explain this pattern. Bottom-up hypotheses propose that the environment determines individual species’ ranges. Ranges then sum up to yield species richness patterns. Top-down hypotheses propose that the environment limits the number of species that occur in a region, but not which ones. We test these two classes of hypotheses using a natural experiment: seasonal changes in environmental variables and seasonal range shifts of 625 migratory birds in the Americas. We show that richness seasonally tracks the environment. By contrast, individual species’ geographical distributions do not. Rather, species occupy different sets of environmental conditions in two seasons. Our results are inconsistent with extant bottom-up hypotheses. Instead, a top-down mechanism appears to constrain the number of species that can occur in a given region.

scholarly journals Analysis of Differences in the Spatial Distribution among Terrestrial Mammals Using Geodetector—A Case Study of China

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Yao Chi ◽  
Tianlu Qian ◽  
Caiying Sheng ◽  
Changbai Xi ◽  
Jiechen Wang
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Species Richness ◽  
Spatial Data ◽  
Geographical Information Systems ◽  
Mammalian Species ◽  
Geographical Information ◽  
Individual Factor ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals ◽  
Spatial Differences

The survival and distribution of animals cannot be separated from a certain environment. How patterns in mammalian species depend on the environment remain unclear. This study incorporating spatial data on climate, precipitation, topography, and vegetation quantitatively analyzed the influence of specific geographical factors on the spatial distribution of terrestrial mammalian richness using the Geodetector model. We used the spatial analysis method of geographical information systems (GIS), separating the mammalian distribution of 621 species into 10 by 10 km grids to measure spatial richness. Our results showed that there were significant spatial differences in terrestrial mammalian richness in China. There was a low richness in the east and west, but high richness in the south. Individual factor detection results showed that annual precipitation (AP) and the minimum temperature of the coldest month (MTCM) were the dominant factors affecting the spatial pattern of mammal richness in China. Patterns in the distribution of species richness had distinct characteristics for different mammalian orders and were influenced by different environmental factors. The richness distribution of most orders was mainly affected by MTCM and AP. Interactive detection results showed that interacting factors in pairs play much bigger roles in the spatial distribution of species richness than individual factors. The synergistic effect of elevation with AP and MTCM best explained the distribution differences of species richness. We found that the Geodetector model is a valuable tool, hoping to be more widely used in biogeography.

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