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Plant species richness as the main driver of moth metacommunities
Author(s) -
MORENO CAROLINA,
LANDEIRO VICTOR L.,
FERRO VIVIANE G.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
ecological entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.865
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1365-2311
pISSN - 0307-6946
DOI - 10.1111/een.12348
Subject(s) - metacommunity , species richness , biology , generalist and specialist species , ecology , biological dispersal , abundance (ecology) , habitat , common species , ecological niche , biodiversity , rare species , population , demography , sociology
1. Ecologists have recognised several factors that may explain the distribution of species in a metacommunity. These factors may be related to the dispersal of individuals among the patches and environmental conditions. 2. Here, we attempted to determine which of the four different metacommunity frameworks (patch dynamics, mass effect, neutral processes, and species sorting) explain the distribution of A rctiinae moths in B razilian savanna areas with different tree species richness. 3. The A rctiinae moths were categorised as habitat specialists or generalists, common or rare, and belonging to the tribes A rctiini and L ithosiini. We hypothesized that environmental variables best explain the abundance and occurrence of habitat specialist species, common species, and members of L ithosiini; whereas spatial processes are more closely related to habitat generalists, rare species, and members of A rctiini. 4. Contrary to our expectations, we found that the species sorting (mainly dictated by the species richness of trees) best explained the variation in abundance and occurrence of the majority of species groups. Spatial processes (more related to patch dynamics, mass effect, and neutral), although they were significantly related to some species groups, were not strong enough to explain the distribution of these species in the study area. 5. The plant species richness was the most important environmental condition, related to moth species niches. Therefore, species sorting best explained the distribution of the species of A rctiinae in the B razilian savanna.