Unveiling the hidden limits of species clusters: a cross-methodological approach to identify bioregions of neotropical snakes

• Grant number: 14/18837-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Effective date (Start): April 15, 2015
• Effective date (End): April 14, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology
• Principal Investigator: Ricardo Jannini Sawaya
• Grantee: Thaís Barreto Guedes da Costa
• Supervisor: Alexandre Antonelli
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Ambientais, Químicas e Farmacêuticas (ICAQF). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus Diadema. Diadema , SP, Brazil
• Research place: University of Gothenburg, Sweden
• Associated to the scholarship: 13/04170-8 - Historical biogeography of the snakes from open landscapes in South America, BP.PD

Abstract

The identification of natural biogeographical regions is fundamental for comparisons in broad-scale ecological and evolutionary studies, and constitutes an essential tool for conservation planning. Several recent ecological and biogeographical studies have attempted to delimit bioregions at both global and local scales, and there is a long history of regionalization schemes proposed for the Neotropical region throughout the last 150 years. However, despite recent advances and proposals, there is no consensus on what kind of data are most adequate, what are the best methods for delimitating and mapping bioregions cartographically, nor which terminological system should be used for referring to the areas identified. This lack of consensus, as well as its insufficient analytical development, is surprising given that these natural units form the basis for the study of evolutionary, ecological, and geological process that spatially structure biotas. Thus, the aim of this study is to test methods and proposals of regionalization in Neotropics using real and reliable data (ca. 100,000 distributional records of 469 species) on the geographical distribution of snakes as a model, and to compare the results with previously published proposals for other animals, plants, and abiotic features. We aim to answer the following questions: i) How do different bioregionalisation methods perform on the distributional data of Neotropical snakes? ii) How congruent are commonly recognized "Brazilian biomes" with bioregions delimited by distributional data of snakes? iii) What are the main limitations of currently available methods used in regionalization analyses for biogeography? (AU)

Scientific publications

(11)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

GUEDES, THAIS B.; BARBO, FAUSTO E.; FRANCA, DANIELLA; ZAHER, HUSSAM. Morphological variation of the rare psammophilous species Apostolepis gaboi (Serpentes, Dipsadidae, Elapomorphini). Zootaxa, v. 4418, n. 5, p. 469-480, MAY 10 2018. (11/50206-9, 14/18837-7, 15/05047-0, 13/04170-8)

GUEDES, THAIS B.; SAWAYA, RICARDO J.; ZIZKA, ALEXANDER; LAFFAN, SHAWN; FAURBY, SOREN; PYRON, R. ALEXANDER; BERNILS, RENATO S.; JANSEN, MARTIN; PASSOS, PAULO; PRUDENTE, ANA L. C.; et al. Patterns, biases and prospects in the distribution and diversity of Neotropical snakes. GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY, v. 27, n. 1, p. 14-21, JAN 2018. (13/04170-8, 11/50206-9, 14/23677-9, 15/20215-7, 14/18837-7)

GONZALEZ, RODRIGO CASTELLARI; GUEDES, THAIS B.; PASSOS, PAULO. Back in time to unlock the future: tracing the type-specimens of Corallus hortulana (Linnaeus, 1758) (Serpentes: Boidae), with designation of a lectotype for the Amazon tree boa. Zootaxa, v. 4941, n. 2, p. 259-270, MAR 8 2021. (14/18837-7, 13/04170-8)

CITELI, NATHALIE; HAMDAN, BRENO; GUEDES, THAIS. Snake richness in urban forest fragments from Niteroi and surroundings, state of Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil. BIODIVERSITY DATA JOURNAL, v. 4, 2016. (14/18837-7, 13/04170-8)

BRAZ, HENRIQUE B.; KASPEROVICZUS, KARINA N.; GUEDES, THAIS B.. Reproductive Biology of the Fossorial Snake Apostolepis gaboi (Elapomorphini): A Threatened and Poorly Known Species from the Caatinga Region. South American Journal of Herpetology, v. 14, n. 1, p. 37-47, APR 2019. (14/18837-7, 13/04170-8)

EDLER, DANIEL; GUEDES, THAIS; ZIZKA, ALEXANDER; ROSVALL, MARTIN; ANTONELLI, ALEXANDRE. Infomap Bioregions: Interactive Mapping of Biogeographical Regions from Species Distributions. Systematic Biology, v. 66, n. 2, SI, p. 197-204, MAR 2017. (14/18837-7, 13/04170-8)

ANTONELLI, ALEXANDRE; ARIZA, MARIA; ALBERT, JAMES; ANDERMANN, TOBIAS; AZEVEDO, JOSUE; BACON, CHRISTINE; FAURBY, SOREN; GUEDES, THAIS; HOORN, CARINA; LOHMANN, LUCIA G.; et al. Conceptual and empirical advances in Neotropical biodiversity research. PeerJ, v. 6, OCT 4 2018. (14/18837-7, 13/04170-8, 12/50260-6, 17/12797-1)

NOGUEIRA, CRISTIANO C.; ARGOLO, ANTONIO J. S.; ARZAMENDIA, VANESA; AZEVEDO, JOSUE A.; BARBO, FAUSTO E.; BERNILS, RENATO S.; BOLOCHIO, BRUNA E.; BORGES-MARTINS, MARCIO; BRASIL-GODINHO, MARCELA; BRAZ, HENRIQUE B.; et al. Atlas of Brazilian Snakes: Verified Point-Locality Maps to Mitigate the Wallacean Shortfall in a Megadiverse Snake Fauna. South American Journal of Herpetology, v. 14, n. 1, p. S1-S274, DEC 2019. (15/21259-8, 11/50206-9, 14/18837-7, 18/15926-0, 14/23677-9, 12/09156-0, 18/14091-1, 13/04170-8, 12/19858-2, 15/20215-7)

ENTIAUSPE-NETO, OMAR M.; GUEDES, THAIS B.; LOEBMANN, DANIEL; DE LEMA, THALES. Taxonomic Status of Two Simultaneously Described Apostolepis Cope, 1862 Species (Dipsadidae: Elapomorphini) from Caatinga Enclaves Moist Forests, Brazil. Journal of Herpetology, v. 54, n. 2, p. 225-234, JUN 2020. (14/18837-7, 13/04170-8)

ENTIAUSPE-NETO, OMAR M.; KOCH, CLAUDIA; HARVEY, MICHAEL B.; COLLI, GUARINO R.; GUEDES, THAIS B.. Redescription of Apostolepis ambiniger (Peters, 1869) (Serpentes: Dipsadidae: Elapomorphini). VERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY, v. 71, p. 231-251, APR 27 2021. (14/18837-7, 13/04170-8)

ENTIAUSPE-NETO, OMAR M.; KOCH, CLAUDIA; GUEDES, THAIS B.; TIUTENKO, ARTHUR. Revisiting the taxonomic status of Apostolepis sanctaeritae, a forgotten Neotropical dipsadid snake. SALAMANDRA, v. 56, n. 4, p. 329-341, OCT 30 2020. (13/04170-8, 14/18837-7)