(Universidade Federal de Goiás, 2009-06-22) CRUZ, Mary Joyce Ribeiro da; DINIZ FILHO, José Alexandre Felizola; http://lattes.cnpq.br/0706396442417351
The questions around species niche have sought to unveil why a species is where it is and it is not
where it is not, so it is well known that a lot of factors can be determinant in this discussion.
Thus, in this study we examined the relationship between niche and geographical distance, life
history and phylogenetic components to the New World carnivores. The data used in our analyses
were obtained from datasets available online and from literature sources. We used Mantel s test
to evaluate the correlation among the data matrices in NTSys software. Significant correlations
were found between niche and geographical distance (r =-0,4068 e P <0,0001) and between life
history and geographical distance (r = -0,1136 e P= 0,0024). These results suggest that species
that are spatially close are more similar in terms of niche and life history. We also observed that,
among others factors, interespecific interactions has an important effect in structuring ecological
communities. New tests are still necessary in future to generate new information about
carnivore s niche and their components.