Biogeographic Distribution Patterns and Their Correlates in the Diverse Frog Fauna of the Atlantic Forest Hotspot

Autor(es)

Vasconcelos, Tiago S. ^[1] ; Prado, Vitor H. M. ^[2] ; da Silva, Fernando R. ^[3] ; Haddad, Celio F. B. ^[2]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Estatual Paulista, Dept Ciencias Biol, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[2] Univ Estadual Paulista, Dept Zool, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[3] Univ Fed Sao Carlos, Dept Ciencias Ambientais, Sao Paulo - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: PLoS One; v. 9, n. 8 AUG 20 2014.
• Citações Web of Science: 21

Resumo

Anurans are a highly diverse group in the Atlantic Forest hotspot (AF), yet distribution patterns and species richness gradients are not randomly distributed throughout the biome. Thus, we explore how anuran species are distributed in this complex and biodiverse hotspot, and hypothesize that this group can be distinguished by different cohesive regions. We used range maps of 497 species to obtain a presence/ absence data grid, resolved to 50x50 km grain size, which was submitted to k-means clustering with v-fold cross-validation to determine the biogeographic regions. We also explored the extent to which current environmental variables, topography, and floristic structure of the AF are expected to identify the cluster patterns recognized by the k-means clustering. The biogeographic patterns found for amphibians are broadly congruent with ecoregions identified in the AF, but their edges, and sometimes the whole extent of some clusters, present much less resolved pattern compared to previous classification. We also identified that climate, topography, and vegetation structure of the AF explained a high percentage of variance of the cluster patterns identified, but the magnitude of the regression coefficients shifted regarding their importance in explaining the variance for each cluster. Specifically, we propose that the anuran fauna of the AF can be split into four biogeographic regions: a) less diverse and widely-ranged species that predominantly occur in the inland semideciduous forests; b) northern small-ranged species that presumably evolved within the Pleistocene forest refugia; c) highly diverse and small-ranged species from the southeastern Brazilian mountain chain and its adjacent semideciduous forest; and d) southern species from the Araucaria forest. Finally, the high congruence among the cluster patterns and previous eco-regions identified for the AF suggests that preserving the underlying habitat structure helps to preserve the historical and ecological signals that underlie the geographic distribution of AF anurans. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 12/07765-0 - Macroecologia de anfíbios anuros do cerrado e Mata Atlântica: modelagem de distribuição potencial, influência de mudanças climáticas e áreas prioritárias para conservação
• Beneficiário: Tiago da Silveira Vasconcelos
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Programa de Pesquisa sobre Mudanças Climáticas Globais - Jovens Pesquisadores
• Processo FAPESP: 10/50125-6 - Diversidade de espécies e coexistência: qual o papel destes componentes na variação morfológica em hilídeos sul-americanos?
• Beneficiário: Vitor Hugo Mendonça do Prado
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Pós-Doutorado
• Processo FAPESP: 08/50928-1 - Especiação de anfíbios anuros em ambientes de altitude
• Beneficiário: Célio Fernando Baptista Haddad
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Temático
• Processo FAPESP: 11/18510-0 - Macroecologia de anfíbios anuros do Cerrado e Mata Atlântica: modelagem de distribuição potencial, influência de mudanças climáticas e áreas prioritárias para conservação
• Beneficiário: Tiago da Silveira Vasconcelos
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Programa de Pesquisa sobre Mudanças Climáticas Globais - Jovens Pesquisadores