Functional richness shows spatial scale dependency in Pheidole ant assemblages from Neotropical savannas.

ABSTRACT: There is a growing recognition that spatial scale is important for understanding ecological processes shaping community membership, but empirical evidence on this topic is still scarce. Ecological processes such as environmental filtering can decrease functional differences among species and promote functional clustering of species assemblages, whereas interspecific competition can do the opposite. These different ecological processes are expected to take place at different spatial scales, with competition being more likely at finer scales and environmental filtering most likely at coarser scales. We used a comprehensive dataset on species assemblages of a dominant ant genus, Pheidole, in the Cerrado (savanna) biodiversity hotspot to ask how functional richness relates to species ri

SUBMITTER: Neves K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6822040 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature