Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Habitat generalists drive nestedness in a tropical mountaintop insect metacommunity
AU - Neves, Frederico De Siqueira
AU - Da Silva, Pedro Giovâni
AU - Solar, Ricardo
AU - Nunes, Cássio Alencar
AU - Beirão, Marina do Vale
AU - Brant, Humberto
AU - Castro, Flávio Siqueira de
AU - Dáttilo, Wesley
AU - Guevara, Roger
AU - Fernandes, G. Wilson
PY - 2021/6/30
Y1 - 2021/6/30
N2 - Nestedness is widely observed in natural metacommunities, but its underlying mechanisms are still poorly understood. The distribution of habitats in the landscape and differences in dispersal rates of distinct insect taxa can determine the nestedness of the metacommunity. Here, we evaluated how species habitat specialization contributes to metacommunity nestedness in insect groups with different dispersal capacities in a mountaintop landscape in south-eastern Brazil. We sampled ants, butterflies and dung beetles in two main habitats, naturally fragmented forest islands and a grassland matrix (campo rupestre), during both dry and rainy seasons. We classified species according to their degree of habitat specialization (generalists or specialists) based on the relative frequencies and abundances between these two contrasting habitats. Forty of 211 species were classified as habitat specialists, seven as habitat generalists. It was not possible to classify the remaining species. The metacommunity was nested in structure, with habitat generalist species contributing more to nestedness than habitat specialists. Nonetheless, habitat distribution in the landscape did not affect the nestedness of the metacommunity. Our findings reveal that species sorting (for habitat specialists) and mass effects (for habitat generalists) are concurrent processes in the mountaintop forest-grassland mosaic. Our study helps to advance our understanding of the differences in the distribution of generalist and specialist species in a tropical mountaintop landscape and improves our ability to predict and manage the increasingly adverse effects of changes in land use and climate on metacommunities and ecosystem functions.
AB - Nestedness is widely observed in natural metacommunities, but its underlying mechanisms are still poorly understood. The distribution of habitats in the landscape and differences in dispersal rates of distinct insect taxa can determine the nestedness of the metacommunity. Here, we evaluated how species habitat specialization contributes to metacommunity nestedness in insect groups with different dispersal capacities in a mountaintop landscape in south-eastern Brazil. We sampled ants, butterflies and dung beetles in two main habitats, naturally fragmented forest islands and a grassland matrix (campo rupestre), during both dry and rainy seasons. We classified species according to their degree of habitat specialization (generalists or specialists) based on the relative frequencies and abundances between these two contrasting habitats. Forty of 211 species were classified as habitat specialists, seven as habitat generalists. It was not possible to classify the remaining species. The metacommunity was nested in structure, with habitat generalist species contributing more to nestedness than habitat specialists. Nonetheless, habitat distribution in the landscape did not affect the nestedness of the metacommunity. Our findings reveal that species sorting (for habitat specialists) and mass effects (for habitat generalists) are concurrent processes in the mountaintop forest-grassland mosaic. Our study helps to advance our understanding of the differences in the distribution of generalist and specialist species in a tropical mountaintop landscape and improves our ability to predict and manage the increasingly adverse effects of changes in land use and climate on metacommunities and ecosystem functions.
KW - ants
KW - butterflies
KW - campo rupestre
KW - dung beetles
KW - forest islands
KW - old, climate-buffered, infertile landscape
KW - rupestrian grasslands
U2 - 10.1093/biolinnean/blaa059
DO - 10.1093/biolinnean/blaa059
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85096521417
VL - 133
SP - 577
EP - 586
JO - Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
JF - Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
SN - 0024-4066
IS - 2
ER -