Metacommunity versus biogeography: a case study of two groups of neotropical vegetation-dwelling arthropods.

ABSTRACT: Biogeography and metacommunity ecology provide two different perspectives on species diversity. Both are spatial in nature but their spatial scales do not necessarily match. With recent boom of metacommunity studies, we see an increasing need for clear discrimination of spatial scales relevant for both perspectives. This discrimination is a necessary prerequisite for improved understanding of ecological phenomena across scales. Here we provide a case study to illustrate some spatial scale-dependent concepts in recent metacommunity studies and identify potential pitfalls. We presented here the diversity patterns of Neotropical lepidopterans and spiders viewed both from metacommunity and biogeographical perspectives. Specifically, we investigated how the relative importance of niche- and dis

SUBMITTER: Goncalves-Souza T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4280172 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature