Beta diversity patterns of bats in the Atlantic Forest: how does the scale of analysis affect the importance of spatial and environmental factors?

Aim: Environmental and spatial factors are broadly recognized as important predictors of beta diversity patterns. However, the scale at which beta diversity patterns are evaluated will affect the outcoming results. For example, studies at larger scales will usually find spatial processes as the main predictor of beta diversity patterns. In this study we evaluate how beta diversity patterns change when analyses are conducted at different scales by reducing the scale of analysis in a hierarchical manner.

Taxon: Chiroptera.

Location: Atlantic Forest biome.

Methods: Information on the occurrence of 59 bat species were obtained from the Atlantic Bats and Species Link database. We partitioned beta diversity into its two components (nestedness and turnover), and calculated these indexes hierarchically: the biome in its entirety (all ecoregions); between larger regions (north, central and south); and between ecoregions within each region. We performed a Generalized Dissimilarity Model ...