Worldwide patterns in species richness of falconiformes: analytical null models, geometric constraints and the mid-domain effect
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Data
2004-05-31
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Editor
Instituto Internacional de Ecologia
Resumo
Recently, the hypothesis that the geographic distribution of species could be influenced by the shape
of the domain edges, the so-called Mid-Domain Effect (MDE), has been included as one of the five
credible hypotheses for explaining spatial gradients in species richness, despite all the unsuccessful
current attempts to prove empirically the validity of MDE. We used data on spatial worldwide distributions
of Falconiformes to evaluate the validity of MDE assumptions, incorporated into two different
sorts of null models at a global level and separately across five domains/landmasses. Species richness
values predicted by the null models of the MDE and those values predicted by Net Primary
Productivity, a surrogate variable expressing the effect of available energy, were compared in order
to evaluate which hypothesis better predicts the observed values. Our tests showed that MDE continues
to lack empirical support, regardless of its current acceptability, and so, does not deserve to
be classified as one possible explanation of species richness gradients.
Descrição
Palavras-chave
Species richness, Spatial patterns, Richness gradients, Net primary productivity, Mid-domain effect, Null models, Falconiformes
Citação
RANGEL, T. F. L. V. B.; DINIZ FILHO, J. A. F. Worldwide patterns in species richness of falconiformes: analytical null models, geometric constraints and the mid-domain effect. Brazilian Journal of Biology, São Carlos, v. 64, n.2, p. 299-308, May 2004.