Where water meets rock: Ecological niches and diversity hotspots of hygropetric beetles in the Neotropics

Freshwater biodiversity is structured by climate and topography controls on moisture at fine scales. Hygropetric habitats (thin water films over rock) remain underrepresented in macroecology. We tested whether major Neotropical areas occupy distinct environmental space, whether hygropetric beetle genera show low niche overlap, and quantified richness in mountainous and topographically steep regions. We assembled 144 species in 15 genera across seven families from taxonomic literature, GBIF, and targeted field sampling at 97 waterfalls and streams in the Brazilian Shield, including 66 new occurrences. Species distribution models, using five algorithms and predictors that included bioclimatic variables, elevation, compound topographic index, and profile curvature, were cross-validated. Multivariate analyses compared environmental space among provinces, and niche overlap metrics assessed intergeneric segregation. Major Neotropical areas occupied significantly different environmental space,..., , # Where water meets rock: Ecological niches and diversity hotspots of hygropetric beetles in the Neotropics

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.dv41ns2bw](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.dv41ns2bw)

## Description of the data and file structure

This dataset accompanies the study *Where water meets rock: Ecological niches and diversity hotspots of hygropetric beetles in the Neotropics* and documents the environmental predictors used, model evaluation thresholds, and compiled occurrence records for hygropetric beetle taxa across the Neotropics. Data were assembled from public environmental layers and curated species‑occurrence records (GBIF and taxonomic literature) to support species distribution modelling (SDM) and downstream diversity analyses. The occurrence table includes vetted geographic coordinates and a per‑record “Filter” flag indicating whether each record was retained (\"Used\") or excluded after quality control. Environmental variables include bioclimatic, elevation, and terrain‑derive...,