Disparity between range map- and survey-based analyses of species richness: patterns, processes and implications

Species richness patterns are characterized either by overlaying species range maps or by compiling geographically extensive survey data for multiple local communities. Although, these two approaches are clearly related, they need not produce identical richness patterns because species do not occur everywhere in their geographical range. Using North American breeding birds, we present the first continent-wide comparison of survey and range map data. On average, bird species were detected on 40.5% of the surveys within their range. As a result of this range porosity, the geographical richness patterns differed markedly, with the greatest disparity in arid regions and at higher elevations. Environmental productivity was a stronger predictor of survey richness, while elevational heterogeneity was more important in determining range map richness. In addition, range map richness exhibited greater spatial autocorrelation and lower estimates of spatial turnover in species composition. Our results highlight the fact that range map richness represents species coexistence at a much coarser scale than survey data, and demonstrate that the conclusions drawn from species richness studies may depend on the data type used for analyses.

[1]  J. Bullock,et al.  Geographical separation of two Ulex species at three spatial scales: does competition limit species' ranges? , 2000 .

[2]  K. Gaston,et al.  Species Richness, Environmental Correlates, and Spatial Scale: A Test Using South African Birds , 2002, The American Naturalist.

[3]  P. Rodman.  Structural differentiation of microhabitats of sympatricmacaca fascicularis andM. nemestrina in East Kalimantan, Indonesia , 1991, International Journal of Primatology.

[4]  A. Shmida,et al.  Measuring beta diversity with presence-absence data , 1984 .

[5]  L. Hannah,et al.  Assessing the vulnerability of species richness to anthropogenic climate change in a biodiversity hotspot , 2002 .

[6]  L. R. Dice.  Measures of the Amount of Ecologic Association Between Species , 1945 .

[7]  D. Bystrak,et al.  The north american breeding bird survey. , 1981 .

[8]  José Alexandre Felizola Diniz-Filho,et al.  PRODUCTIVITY AND HISTORY AS PREDICTORS OF THE LATITUDINAL DIVERSITY GRADIENT OF TERRESTRIAL BIRDS , 2003 .

[9]  J. Paruelo,et al.  ANPP ESTIMATES FROM NDVI FOR THE CENTRAL GRASSLAND REGION OF THE UNITED STATES , 1997 .

[10]  O. Schmitz,et al.  Global climate change and mammalian species diversity in U.S. national parks , 2003, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[11]  R. Whittaker,et al.  Species Diversity--Scale Matters , 2002, Science.

[12]  S. Hubbell,et al.  The unified neutral theory of biodiversity and biogeography at age ten. , 2011, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[13]  Kevin J. Gaston,et al.  How Large Is a Species' Geographic Range? , 1991 .

[14]  B. McGill.  A test of the unified neutral theory of biodiversity , 2003, Nature.

[15]  M. Willig,et al.  The Relationship Between Productivity and Species Richness , 1999 .

[16]  D. W. Shimwell,et al.  Areography: Geographical Strategies of Species , 1983 .

[17]  J. Diniz‐Filho,et al.  Spatial autocorrelation and red herrings in geographical ecology , 2003 .

[18]  D. A. Sibley.  The Sibley Guide to Birds , 2000 .

[19]  K. Rohde.  Latitudinal gradients in species diversity: the search for the primary cause , 1992 .

[20]  J. Svenning,et al.  Limited filling of the potential range in European tree species , 2004 .

[21]  Carsten Rahbek,et al.  The Mid‐Domain Effect and Species Richness Patterns:What Have We Learned So Far? , 2004, The American Naturalist.

[22]  E. White.  Two-phase species-time relationships in North American land birds , 2004 .

[23]  R. E. Cook,et al.  Variation in Species Density of North American Birds , 1969 .

[24]  Dawn M. Kaufman,et al.  THE GEOGRAPHIC RANGE: Size, Shape, Boundaries, and Internal Structure , 1996 .

[25]  R. Macarthur,et al.  Environmental Factors Affecting Bird Species Diversity , 1964, The American Naturalist.

[26]  Richard Field,et al.  ENERGY, WATER, AND BROAD‐SCALE GEOGRAPHIC PATTERNS OF SPECIES RICHNESS , 2003 .

[27]  J. Lawton,et al.  Rare species, the coincidence of diversity hotspots and conservation strategies , 1993, Nature.

[28]  K. Gaston.  Global patterns in biodiversity , 2000, Nature.

[29]  J. Lawton,et al.  HABITAT AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF WATER VOLES: WHY ARE THERE GAPS IN A SPECIES' RANGE? , 1991 .

[30]  R. Ricklefs,et al.  Global patterns of tree species richness in moist forests : distinguishing ecological influences and historical contingency , 1999 .

[31]  S. Freitag,et al.  Towards conserving regional mammalian species diversity: a case study and data critique , 1995 .

[32]  Allen H Hurlbert,et al.  The Effect of Energy and Seasonality on Avian Species Richness and Community Composition , 2002, The American Naturalist.

[33]  Jean-Philippe Gastellu-Etchegorry,et al.  Relating the Global Vegetation Index to net primary productivity and actual evapotranspiration over Africa , 1993 .

[34]  R. Mittermeier,et al.  Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities , 2000, Nature.

[35]  R. Macarthur,et al.  The Theory of Island Biogeography , 1969 .

[36]  D. Currie,et al.  Does climate determine broad‐scale patterns of species richness? A test of the causal link by natural experiment , 2003 .

[37]  Kevin J. Gaston,et al.  The structure and dynamics of geographic ranges , 2003 .

[38]  G. Graves,et al.  Multiscale assessment of patterns of avian species richness , 2001, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[39]  Bradford A. Hawkins,et al.  Summer vegetation, deglaciation and the anomalous bird diversity gradient in eastern North America , 2004 .

[40]  R. Ricklefs,et al.  Large-scale processes and the Asian bias in species diversity of temperate plants , 2000, Nature.

[41]  James H. Brown,et al.  Global Biodiversity, Biochemical Kinetics, and the Energetic-Equivalence Rule , 2002, Science.

[42]  Kevin J. Gaston,et al.  Measuring geographic range sizes , 1994 .

[43]  C. Rahbek,et al.  Geometric constraints explain much of the species richness pattern in African birds , 2001, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[44]  J. Nichols,et al.  ESTIMATING SITE OCCUPANCY, COLONIZATION, AND LOCAL EXTINCTION WHEN A SPECIES IS DETECTED IMPERFECTLY , 2003 .

[45]  Michael A. Huston,et al.  Local processes and regional patterns : appropriate scales for understanding variation in the diversity of plants and animals , 1999 .