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Positive range–abundance relationships in Indo‐Pacific bird communities
Author(s) -
Theuerkauf Jörn,
Chartendrault Vivien,
Desmoulins Frédéric,
Barré Nicolas,
Gula Roman
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of biogeography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 158
eISSN - 1365-2699
pISSN - 0305-0270
DOI - 10.1111/jbi.13021
Subject(s) - abundance (ecology) , range (aeronautics) , indo pacific , ecology , geography , relative species abundance , habitat , biology , materials science , composite material
Reeve et al . (2016, Ecography, 39 , 990–997) recently reported negative range–abundance relationships in Indo‐Pacific bird communities and speculated that geographical isolation facilitates the evolution of broad‐niched, small‐ranged and abundant species. We tested this relationship using a large independent data set on range and abundance of birds across New Caledonia (over 4,000 bird census points for 17,300 km²). In contradiction to Reeve et al . (2016, Ecography, 39 , 990–997), we found clear evidence that range–abundance relationships are positive and endemic species have narrower habitat niches than wide‐range species. Our findings are likely valid also for other islands in the Indo‐Pacific.