scholarly journals Do Shapes of Elevational Gradients of Species Richness Depend on the Vertical Range Studied? The Case of the Himalayas

Author(s):  
Jatishwor Singh Irungbam ◽  
Alena Bartoňová Sucháčková ◽  
Martin Konvička ◽  
Zdenek Faltýnek Fric

Abstract We retrieved shapes of elevational species richness gradients (unimodal, decreasing, increasing) from 64 publications, studying Himalayan elevation patterns. We covered both plants and animals, and tested the hypothesis that unimodal gradients, explicable by the geometric mid-domain effect, prevail in the mountains, whereas decreasing or increasing gradients result from studying only short sections of entire altitudinal ranges. Multivariate canonical correspondence analysis was used to relate gradient shapes to their altitude ranges, geography positions, and taxa studied. Across taxa, most of the Himalayan altitudinal gradient display a unimodal shape, with a peak of diversity situated at ca 2500 m a.s.l. for plants, and 2200 m a.s.l. for animals. The gradient shapes were attributable to three intercorrelated predictors: vertical range, maximum elevation, and mean elevation of the gradients. Studies covering sufficiently broad altitudinal range returned unimodal gradients. Studies from the Earth’s highest mountain range reveal that surveys covering substantial parts of the elevational range of the mountains result in unimodal elevational gradients, whereas declining or increasing species richness gradients result from incomplete elevation range sampling.

Check List ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 1475-1518
Author(s):  
Juan S. García-Monroy ◽  
Óscar E. Morales-González ◽  
Juan E. Carvajal‑Cogollo

The diversity of birds in the Las Quinchas mountain range amounted to 374 taxa in 2007, most of them distributed in the tropical region of the massif. We made five sampling trips between March and October 2019 to different locations in the Tropical and Sub-Andean regions of Las Quinchas, we added 11 species increasing in 3% the avian richness of the mountains. The 383 species are distributed in 55 families and 22 orders. One species is categorized as Critically Endangered and four are the Vulnerable. There was greater species richness in the upper part of the mountains and low turnover between altitude ranges.


1994 ◽  
Vol 51 (7) ◽  
pp. 1600-1607 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian A. Grantham ◽  
Brenda J. Hann

Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) was used to examine the distribution of leeches (Annelida: Hirudinea) in 18 lakes at the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA). Leech community composition was best described by an ordination incorporating alkalinity, primary productivity, and lake area. In general, highest species richness occurred in small, eutrophic lakes whereas lowest richness was recorded in medium to large lakes with low productivity. Contrary to results for some other taxa, lake pH was not a dominant variable, describing only a small amount of variance in the species–environment relationship.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shijo Joseph ◽  
K. Anitha ◽  
V. K. Srivastava ◽  
Ch. Sudhakar Reddy ◽  
A. P. Thomas ◽  
...  

The present study characterises the tree communities with respect to topographic and climatic variables and identifies the most important environmental correlate of species richness in the southern region of Western Ghats Biodiversity Hotspot, India. Digitally derived environmental variables in combination with tree species richness information were analysed using Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) to characterise the communities. Multiple regression technique based on stepwise backward elimination was used to identify the most important environment correlate of species richness. Canonical correspondence analysis results in six major tree communities along the first and second axes. Rainfall is the dominant environmental gradient influencing vegetation patterns on the first CCA axis while elevation showed the highest correlation with the second CCA axis. Backward elimination regression technique yielded rainfall as the most important environmental correlate of species richness. Results were in agreement with the observations in the Neotropics that rainier areas maintain high species diversity.


2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 202-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
IRINA V. MASHKOVA ◽  
TATYANA G. KRUPNOVA ◽  
ANASTASIYA M. KOSTRYUKOVA ◽  
NIKITA E. VLASOV

Mashkova IV, Krupnova TG, Kostryukova AM, Vlasov NE. 2018. Short Communication: Distribution of dragonflies (Odonata: Insecta) in South Ural lakes, Russia. Biodiversitas 19: 202-207. This paper studies the diversity and distribution of Odonata (Insecta) in the South Urals region lakes such as Lake Large Miassovo, Lake Small Miassovo, Lake Ilmenskoe, Lake Savelkul and Lake Baraus. We revised dragonflies in five lakes during May-September 2014-2016. Dragonflies and larvae were identified up to the species. As results, 36 species (12 Zygoptera and 22 Anisoptera) belonging to 15 genera were recorded. To compare the similarities of dragonfly communities of different lakes we used the Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) according the Jaccard index. Comparing the number of records of odonate species for selected lakes in our study, we found that the small richness of species was typical for lakes Savelkul and Baraus (22% and 25% of the total number of species, respectively) and the large values of the species richness was obtained for lakes Small Miassovo, Ilmenskoe and Large Miassovo (50%, 72%% and 80% of the total number of species, respectively).


Author(s):  
Jose L. Rueda ◽  
Manuel Fernández-Casado ◽  
Carmen Salas ◽  
Serge Gofas

The macrofauna of molluscs associated with soft bottoms in the Bay of Cádiz (southern Spain) was studied monthly from February 1994 to January 1996. The number of species (63) is high for a soft bottom and is related to environmental characteristics (growth of macrophytes) and the biogeographical setting of the studied area. Corbula gibba (∼90%) was the dominant species in this taxocoenosis together with the gastropod Nassarius pygmaeus and the bivalves Pandora inaequivalvis, Parvicardium exiguum and Macoma melo. The most frequent species during the two years was also the bivalve Corbula gibba (100%) followed by the gastropods Nassarius pygmaeus, Tricolia tenuis, Rissoa membranacea and the bivalve Macoma melo. Total abundance of the taxocoenosis in both years reached higher values in spring. The dynamics of the ecological indices such as diversity or evenness, and the species richness showed a similar pattern in both years, with low values of diversity and evenness together with high species richness in spring and summer months and the reverse in autumn and winter. The qualitative correspondence analysis of monthly samples shows an ordination related to seasonality in both studied years, however the values of Jaccard's coefficient do not indicate significant boundaries among the monthly samples. The quantitative correspondence analysis shows an ordination and grouping of samples related to the biology of species, particularly with the recruitment of C. gibba, the dominant species. The existence of similar trends in the structure of the taxocoenoses over both years, and the seasonality highlighted by the qualitative correspondence analysis, seems to indicate a certain stability of the ecosystem.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. e58131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shou-Qin Sun ◽  
Yan-Hong Wu ◽  
Gen-Xu Wang ◽  
Jun Zhou ◽  
Dong Yu ◽  
...  

1992 ◽  
Vol 70 (10) ◽  
pp. 1931-1939 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. R. T. Dale ◽  
A. G. Thomas ◽  
E. A. John

The relationship between the weed communities and environmental variables such as soil, crop, and management was investigated in two provinces of Canada. The frequencies of weed species were recorded in cereal and oilseed fields in Saskatchewan (2244 fields over 4 years) and Manitoba (864 fields over 3 years), Canada. Information on some of the physical characteristics of the fields and on the management practices imposed on them was also collected, in part by questionnaire. The two kinds of data were ordinated together using canonical correspondence analysis to assess the relationships between the species and the environmental variables. In the Saskatchewan data, there was a clear and consistent separation of the species into groups along an axis correlated with soil zone and the associated climatic gradient. In the Manitoba data, the same groups of species did not separate as clearly or as consistently, although geographic region was a major determinant of the weed communities. The greater variability may be due to the fact that the gradient of soil types is much more restricted in Manitoba and not as closely correlated with climatic conditions. In both provinces, culture practices were less important as correlates of the weed community composition than soil type or, to a certain extent, the previous crop. Key words: canonical correspondence analysis, cereal crops, oil seed crops.


2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niek J.M. Gremmen ◽  
Bart van de Vijver ◽  
Yves Frenot ◽  
Marc Lebouvier

Altitudinal gradients provide excellent opportunities to study relationships between species distribution and climatic variables. We studied the species composition of 39 samples of moss-inhabiting diatoms, collected at 50 m intervals from 100–650 m above sea level. The samples contained a total of 130 diatom species, of which 51 occurred in 10 or more samples. Altitude appeared to be the most important variable explaining variation in species composition. Of the 51 common species, 33 showed a significant relationship with altitude. Although the majority of the latter declined with increasing altitude, for nine species the probability of occurrence first increased with increasing elevation, but decreased again at higher altitudes, and four species increased systematically with elevation. As a result, expected species richness per sample decreased from an estimated 43 at 100 m to 25 species per sample at 650 m. Diatom distribution patterns proved to be suitable predictors of the altitudinal position of sample sites. Cross-validation yielded a strong relationship between predicted and observed altitudes.


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