Spatial diversity patterns of Pristimantis frogs in the Tropical Andes.

ABSTRACT: Although biodiversity gradients have been widely documented, the factors governing broad-scale patterns in species richness are still a source of intense debate and interest in ecology, evolution, and conservation biology. Here, we tested whether spatial hypotheses (species-area effect, topographic heterogeneity, mid-domain null model, and latitudinal effect) explain the pattern of diversity observed along the altitudinal gradient of Andean rain frogs of the genus Pristimantis. We compiled a gamma-diversity database of 378 species of Pristimantis from the tropical Andes, specifically from Colombia to Bolivia, using records collected above 500 m.a.s.l. Analyses were performed at three spatial levels: Tropical Andes as a whole, split in its two main domains (Northern and Central Andes), and

SUBMITTER: Meza-Joya FL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4759521 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature