Raptorial birds and environmental gradients in the southern Neotropics: A test of species-richness hypotheses
We investigated the spatial patterns of raptor species richness in the southern Neotropics and tested three hypotheses that were most likely to explain spatial variations: ambient energy, productivity and habitat heterogeneity. We used non-linear regression analysis and eliminated alternative hypoth...
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| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_14429985_v30_n8_p892_Bellocq |
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todo:paper_14429985_v30_n8_p892_Bellocq2023-10-03T16:16:22Z Raptorial birds and environmental gradients in the southern Neotropics: A test of species-richness hypotheses Bellocq, M.I. Gómez-Insausti, R. Birds Neotropics Raptors Spatial patterns Species-richness hypotheses bioenergetics environmental gradient habitat structure productivity raptor species richness Aves Raptores We investigated the spatial patterns of raptor species richness in the southern Neotropics and tested three hypotheses that were most likely to explain spatial variations: ambient energy, productivity and habitat heterogeneity. We used non-linear regression analysis and eliminated alternative hypotheses by finding the best single environmental predictor of raptor species richness among potential evapotranspiration (PET), actual evapotranspiration (AET), mean annual temperature and precipitation and vegetation structure coefficient. As expected, the number of raptor species decreases monotonically as latitude increases. Raptor species richness was significantly correlated with each of the environmental factors considered in this study, reflecting covariation of climatic and habitat descriptors. Correlation coefficients showed positive associations between species richness and each single environmental variable. Mean annual temperature was the strongest environmental predictor of raptor species richness (explaining 82% of the variance), consistent with the ambient energy hypothesis. Another descriptor of ambient energy (PET) explained 75% of the spatial variation. Both the AET and the vegetation structure coefficient explained 77% of the spatial variation in richness. The spatial clusters of extreme residuals identified the subtropical rainforests and the and heights and low plateaux of the study area as regions where local environmental conditions appear to interfere with the general trend identified by the model at the regional scale. Fil:Bellocq, M.I. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. JOUR info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ar http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_14429985_v30_n8_p892_Bellocq |
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Universidad de Buenos Aires |
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I-28 |
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R-134 |
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Biblioteca Digital - Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (UBA) |
| topic |
Birds Neotropics Raptors Spatial patterns Species-richness hypotheses bioenergetics environmental gradient habitat structure productivity raptor species richness Aves Raptores |
| spellingShingle |
Birds Neotropics Raptors Spatial patterns Species-richness hypotheses bioenergetics environmental gradient habitat structure productivity raptor species richness Aves Raptores Bellocq, M.I. Gómez-Insausti, R. Raptorial birds and environmental gradients in the southern Neotropics: A test of species-richness hypotheses |
| topic_facet |
Birds Neotropics Raptors Spatial patterns Species-richness hypotheses bioenergetics environmental gradient habitat structure productivity raptor species richness Aves Raptores |
| description |
We investigated the spatial patterns of raptor species richness in the southern Neotropics and tested three hypotheses that were most likely to explain spatial variations: ambient energy, productivity and habitat heterogeneity. We used non-linear regression analysis and eliminated alternative hypotheses by finding the best single environmental predictor of raptor species richness among potential evapotranspiration (PET), actual evapotranspiration (AET), mean annual temperature and precipitation and vegetation structure coefficient. As expected, the number of raptor species decreases monotonically as latitude increases. Raptor species richness was significantly correlated with each of the environmental factors considered in this study, reflecting covariation of climatic and habitat descriptors. Correlation coefficients showed positive associations between species richness and each single environmental variable. Mean annual temperature was the strongest environmental predictor of raptor species richness (explaining 82% of the variance), consistent with the ambient energy hypothesis. Another descriptor of ambient energy (PET) explained 75% of the spatial variation. Both the AET and the vegetation structure coefficient explained 77% of the spatial variation in richness. The spatial clusters of extreme residuals identified the subtropical rainforests and the and heights and low plateaux of the study area as regions where local environmental conditions appear to interfere with the general trend identified by the model at the regional scale. |
| format |
JOUR |
| author |
Bellocq, M.I. Gómez-Insausti, R. |
| author_facet |
Bellocq, M.I. Gómez-Insausti, R. |
| author_sort |
Bellocq, M.I. |
| title |
Raptorial birds and environmental gradients in the southern Neotropics: A test of species-richness hypotheses |
| title_short |
Raptorial birds and environmental gradients in the southern Neotropics: A test of species-richness hypotheses |
| title_full |
Raptorial birds and environmental gradients in the southern Neotropics: A test of species-richness hypotheses |
| title_fullStr |
Raptorial birds and environmental gradients in the southern Neotropics: A test of species-richness hypotheses |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Raptorial birds and environmental gradients in the southern Neotropics: A test of species-richness hypotheses |
| title_sort |
raptorial birds and environmental gradients in the southern neotropics: a test of species-richness hypotheses |
| url |
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_14429985_v30_n8_p892_Bellocq |
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AT bellocqmi raptorialbirdsandenvironmentalgradientsinthesouthernneotropicsatestofspeciesrichnesshypotheses AT gomezinsaustir raptorialbirdsandenvironmentalgradientsinthesouthernneotropicsatestofspeciesrichnesshypotheses |
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1807319462791086080 |