Geographical gradients in Argentinean terrestrial mammal species richness and their environmental correlates.
ScientificWorldJournal
; 2012: 819328, 2012.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-23028254
ABSTRACT
We analysed the main geographical trends of terrestrial mammal species richness (SR) in Argentina, assessing how broad-scale environmental variation (defined by climatic and topographic variables) and the spatial form of the country (defined by spatial filters based on spatial eigenvector mapping (SEVM)) influence the kinds and the numbers of mammal species along these geographical trends. We also evaluated if there are pure geographical trends not accounted for by the environmental or spatial factors. The environmental variables and spatial filters that simultaneously correlated with the geographical variables and SR were considered potential causes of the geographic trends. We performed partial correlations between SR and the geographical variables, maintaining the selected explanatory variables statistically constant, to determine if SR was fully explained by them or if a significant residual geographic pattern remained. All groups and subgroups presented a latitudinal gradient not attributable to the spatial form of the country. Most of these trends were not explained by climate. We used a variation partitioning procedure to quantify the pure geographic trend (PGT) that remained unaccounted for. The PGT was larger for latitudinal than for longitudinal gradients. This suggests that historical or purely geographical causes may also be relevant drivers of these geographical gradients in mammal diversity.
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Biodiversidade
/
Ecologia
/
Meio Ambiente
/
Mamíferos
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Animals
País como assunto:
America do sul
/
Argentina
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2012
Tipo de documento:
Article