Table_4_Habitat Heterogeneity and Geographic Location as Major Drivers of Cerrado Small Mammal Diversity Across Multiple Spatial Scales.xlsx

The Cerrado biome is one of the global hotspots of biodiversity, and non-volant small mammals represent a significant portion of Cerrado species richness (45%) and endemism (86%). Nevertheless, we still lack a comprehensive picture of small mammal diversity patterns and drivers throughout the Cerrado. Here we surveyed small mammals across 45 sites to address species richness, abundance, and composition patterns and their drivers within and across sites, habitats, and localities at the world’s most diverse tropical savanna. As hypothesized, we found: (1) rich assemblages (12–21 species) characterized by few abundant and several intermediate-level and rare species; dominated by oryzomyine and akodontine cricetid rodents, and thylamyine and marmosine within marsupials, each tribe showing distinct habitat requirements; (2) strong habitat selectivity, with assemblages composed of forest dwellers, savanna specialists, and grassland inhabitants; and (3) similar species richness (α-diversity) but high species turnover (β-diversity) across sites, habitats, and localities, suggesting that horizontal stratification (within localities) and geographic location (across the Cerrado) are key drivers of small mammal diversity in tropical savannas. Thus, habitat heterogeneity and geographic location can be inferred as the main factors shaping species richness, abundance, and composition across the analyzed multiple spatial scales. Moreover, we found that geographical distance as well as the distance to neighbor biomes better explained species turnover, indicating landscape history and phylogenetic constraints as the major determinants of Cerrado small mammal diversity, as also evidenced for plants and other animal groups. These data highlight the need to preserve the mosaic of habitats across the different regions of the biome to conserve most of the Cerrado biodiversity.

cerrado生物群落是全球生物多样性热点之一，非飞行小型哺乳动物占cerrado物种丰富度（45%）和特有性（86%）的显著比例。尽管如此，我们对cerrado小型哺乳动物多样性模式和驱动因素的整体图景仍不完整。在本研究中，我们对全球最多样化的热带稀树草原的45个地点的小型哺乳动物进行了调查，以解决物种丰富度、丰度和组成模式及其在地点、生境和地理区域内的驱动因素。如预期所示，我们发现：（1）丰富的物种组合（12-21种），由少量丰富物种、多个中等水平物种和稀有物种组成；主要由oryzomyine和akodontine仓鼠类鼠类，以及thylamyine和marmosine类有袋类动物组成，每个族群显示出独特的生境需求；（2）强烈的生境选择性，组合由森林居民、稀树草原专家和草原居民组成；（3）在地点、生境和地理区域内，物种丰富度（α多样性）相似但物种周转率（β多样性）高，这表明水平分层（地点内）和地理位置（cerrado内）是热带稀树草原小型哺乳动物多样性的关键驱动因素。因此，生境异质性和地理位置可以推断为主要塑造分析多个空间尺度上物种丰富度、丰度和组成的因素。此外，我们发现地理距离以及与相邻生物群落的距离更好地解释了物种周转率，这表明景观历史和系统发育限制是cerrado小型哺乳动物多样性的主要决定因素，正如植物和其他动物群体所证实的。这些数据强调了在生物群落的不同区域保护生境镶嵌体的必要性，以保护cerrado大部分的生物多样性。