Data from: Influences of climate and historical land connectivity on ant beta diversity in East Asia

Aim Biodiversity patterns reflect both ecological and evolutionary processes interacting with geographical variation in climate and the current and historical connectivity between land areas. We sought to disentangle these effects in explaining the organization of ant diversity across geographical areas and islands in East Asia. Location The Japanese Archipelago including the Ryukyu and Ogasawara Islands, Taiwan and coastal continental regions of Korea, China and Russia. Methods We aggregated species occurrence records from published literature, specimen databases and museum records, and compiled climatic variables for islands and politically defined continental areas. Current and historic land connections in the Last Glacial Maximum were determined using bathymetric databases. We analysed factors driving patterns of Simpson composition dissimilarity using multiple regression of distance matrices (MRM). Results Temperature was the largest driver of dissimilarity among areas, with geographical distance and historical land contiguity also being important. Current land contiguity had no detectable effect. Main Conclusions We found climate to be a primary driver of ant diversity patterns on large scales, consistent with previous work on ants and other organisms. Interestingly, land connectivity during historical periods of low sea level was more important than current land connectivity in explaining faunal similarities. This implies that despite the potential overwater dispersal of ants, overland dispersal via transient land connections is a more important driver of regional-scale biogeographical pattern in East Asia.

研究目标 生物多样性格局是生态过程与演化过程共同作用的产物，同时受气候的地理分异以及陆地当前与历史连通性的双重影响。本研究旨在厘清上述各类影响因素，以阐明东亚地理区域与岛屿间蚂蚁多样性的分布格局。
研究区域 涵盖日本列岛（含琉球群岛、小笠原群岛）、中国台湾地区，以及朝鲜、中国与俄罗斯的沿海大陆区域。
研究方法 本研究整合了已发表文献、标本数据库与博物馆馆藏记录中的物种分布记录，并为各岛屿及按行政边界划分的大陆区域整理了气候变量数据集。利用水深数据库重建末次盛冰期（Last Glacial Maximum）的陆地古今连通情况。采用距离矩阵多元回归（multiple regression of distance matrices, MRM）分析调控辛普森组成差异度（Simpson composition dissimilarity）格局的关键因素。
研究结果 温度是区域间物种组成差异的首要调控因子，地理距离与历史陆地连通性同样具有显著影响，而当前陆地连通性未检测到显著效应。
主要结论 本研究发现，气候是大尺度下蚂蚁多样性格局的核心调控因子，这与此前针对蚂蚁及其他类群的研究结果一致。值得注意的是，在解释动物区系相似性时，低海平面历史时期的陆地连通性较当前陆地连通性更为重要。这表明，尽管蚂蚁具备跨海扩散的潜在能力，但通过暂时性陆地连通实现的陆地扩散，仍是调控东亚区域尺度生物地理格局的更关键因素。