Dispersal syndromes drive the formation of biogeographical regions, illustrated by the case of Wallace's Line.

ABSTRACT:

Aim

Biogeographical regions (realms) reflect patterns of co-distributed species (biotas) across space. Their boundaries are set by dispersal barriers and difficulties of establishment in new locations. We extend new methods to assess these two contributions by quantifying the degree to which realms intergrade across geographical space and the contributions of individual species to the delineation of those realms. As our example, we focus on Wallace's Line, the most enigmatic partitioning of the world's faunas, where climate is thought to have little effect and the majority of dispersal barriers are short water gaps.

Location

Indo-Pacific.

Time period

Present day.

Major taxa studied

Birds and mammals.

Methods

Terrestrial bird and mammal assemblages were e

SUBMITTER: White AE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7986858 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature