Martínez-Román Nicolás, Epele Luis B, Manzo Luz M, Grech Marta G, Archangelsky Miguel
Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica (CONICET-UNPSJB), Roca 780, Esquel, Chubut, Argentina.
Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco, Esquel, Chubut, Argentina.
Heliyon. 2023 Aug 30;9(9):e19666. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19666. eCollection 2023 Sep.
Ecological studies searching for drivers of biodiversity variation have frequently focused on taxonomic richness. However, more aspects of biodiversity, namely diversity facets can be considered to properly assess biotic-environment relationships. Here, we explore the environmental factors that could control the four biodiversity facets of aquatic Coleoptera from 93 regionally sampled Patagonian ponds. We also explore which are the ponds with high diversity values of all facets to prioritize them with a high conservation value. We fitted generalized additive models (GAM) to test relationships among environment (i.e., local and climatic variables) and aquatic beetles diversity facets (i.e., richness (SD), functional diversity (FD), phylogenetic diversity (PD), and local contribution to local beta diversity (LCBD). Climatic drivers were the most important predictors of beetle diversity facets, which exhibited linear and nonlinear responses. Thus, ponds from warmer Patagonia exhibited the highest values of SD and PD, whereas LCBD also peaked on colder sites suggesting that ponds under extreme temperatures sustain unique beetle assemblages. Moreover, ponds located in areas with higher precipitation variability exhibit the highest values of LCBD (i.e., unique assemblages). This result in addition to arid conditions in Patagonia prevailing since 16 m.y.a made us think that Patagonian beetle pond-dwellers are basally adapted to aridity. We calculated an index that summarizes the four facets patterns, to assign high conservation value to those ponds with higher index values. The relative importance of each facet varies from pond to pond. Hence, this multifaceteded approach not only allows us to identify priority areas for biodiversity conservation but also focuses on the importance of including multiple facets to understand biodiversity spatial patterns.
探寻生物多样性变化驱动因素的生态学研究常常聚焦于分类学丰富度。然而，为了恰当地评估生物与环境的关系，可以考虑生物多样性的更多方面，即多样性维度。在此，我们探究了可能控制来自93个巴塔哥尼亚地区采样池塘的水生 Coleoptera 四个生物多样性维度的环境因素。我们还探究了哪些池塘在所有维度上具有高多样性值，以便将它们作为具有高保护价值的优先对象。我们拟合了广义相加模型（GAM）来测试环境（即局部和气候变量）与水生甲虫多样性维度（即丰富度（SD）、功能多样性（FD）、系统发育多样性（PD）以及局部对局部β多样性的贡献（LCBD））之间的关系。气候驱动因素是甲虫多样性维度的最重要预测因子，它们呈现出线性和非线性响应。因此，来自温暖的巴塔哥尼亚的池塘表现出最高的 SD 和 PD 值，而 LCBD 在较冷的地点也达到峰值，这表明极端温度下的池塘维持着独特的甲虫群落。此外，位于降水变率较高地区的池塘表现出最高的 LCBD 值（即独特的群落）。这一结果，再加上自1600万年前以来巴塔哥尼亚普遍存在的干旱条件，使我们认为巴塔哥尼亚甲虫池塘栖息者基本上适应了干旱环境。我们计算了一个总结四个维度模式的指数，以便将高指数值的池塘赋予高保护价值。每个维度的相对重要性因池塘而异。因此，这种多维度方法不仅使我们能够确定生物多样性保护的优先区域，还关注了纳入多个维度以理解生物多样性空间模式的重要性。
