Worldwide patterns in species richness of falconiformes: analytical null models, geometric constraints, and the mid-domain effect

Brazilian Journal of Biology

T. F. L.v. B. Rangel¹  J. A. F. Diniz-filho¹ 

[1] ,Universidade Federal de Goiás Instituto de Ciências Biológicas Departamento de Biologia GeralGoiânia GO ,Brazil

关键词: species richness;    spatial patterns;    richness gradients;    net primary productivity;    mid-domain effect;    null models;    Falconiformes;    riqueza de espécies;    padrões espaciais;    gradientes de riqueza;    produtividade primária líquida;    efeito do domínio médio;    modelos nulos;    Falconiformes;   

DOI  :  10.1590/S1519-69842004000200016

来源: SciELO

【 摘 要 】

Recently, the hypothesis that the geographic distribution of species could be influenced by the shape of the domain edges, the so-called Mid-Domain Effect (MDE), has been included as one of the five credible hypotheses for explaining spatial gradients in species richness, despite all the unsuccessful current attempts to prove empirically the validity of MDE. We used data on spatial worldwide distributions of Falconiformes to evaluate the validity of MDE assumptions, incorporated into two different sorts of null models at a global level and separately across five domains/landmasses. Species richness values predicted by the null models of the MDE and those values predicted by Net Primary Productivity, a surrogate variable expressing the effect of available energy, were compared in order to evaluate which hypothesis better predicts the observed values. Our tests showed that MDE continues to lack empirical support, regardless of its current acceptability, and so, does not deserve to be classified as one possible explanation of species richness gradients.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
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