Habitat and not topographic heterogeneity constrains the range sizes of African mammals

Aim: The extinction risks of species are influenced by their geographical range sizes, as species with smaller ranges are more likely to go extinct following disturbance events. Theoretically, heterogeneous landscapes can maintain small-ranged species, because they facilitate the coexistence of taxa that are each constrained to distinct abiotic conditions. However, we do not fully understand whether this process is more attributable to variation in habitat types (habitat heterogeneity) or physical elevations (topographic heterogeneity) across landscapes. Here, we compare the influences of habitat versus topographic heterogeneity on mammalian range sizes in Africa.
Location: Africa.
Taxon: Mammalia.
Methods: We built a phylogenetic generalized least squares model to predict the range sizes of 1033 mammalian species from their functional traits and abiotic conditions. We assessed how the performance of the model changed when we incorporated measures of the local habitat and, separately, t..., ,