Functional diversity of Himalayan bat communities declines at high elevation without the loss of phylogenetic diversity.

ABSTRACT: Species richness exhibits well-known patterns across elevational gradients in various taxa, but represents only one aspect of quantifying biodiversity patterns. Functional and phylogenetic diversity have received much less attention, particularly for vertebrate taxa. There is still a limited understanding of how functional, phylogenetic and taxonomic diversity change in concert across large gradients of elevation. Here, we focused on the Himalaya-representing the largest elevational gradients in the world-to investigate the patterns of taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity in a bat assemblage. Combining field data on species occurrence, relative abundance, and functional traits with measures of phylogenetic diversity, we found that bat species richness and functional diversity d

SUBMITTER: Chakravarty R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8604957 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature