Factors that influence the beta-diversity of spider communities in northwestern Argentinean Grasslands
Beta-diversity, defined as spatial replacement in species composition, is crucial to the understanding of how local communities assemble. These changes can be driven by environmental or geographic factors (such as geographic distance), or a combination of the two. Spiders have been shown to be good...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
PeerJ Inc.
2016-04-01
|
| Series: | PeerJ |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/1946.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797422268648783872 |
|---|---|
| author | Sandra M. Rodriguez-Artigas Rodrigo Ballester Jose A. Corronca |
| author_facet | Sandra M. Rodriguez-Artigas Rodrigo Ballester Jose A. Corronca |
| author_sort | Sandra M. Rodriguez-Artigas |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Beta-diversity, defined as spatial replacement in species composition, is crucial to the understanding of how local communities assemble. These changes can be driven by environmental or geographic factors (such as geographic distance), or a combination of the two. Spiders have been shown to be good indicators of environmental quality. Accordingly, spiders are used in this work as model taxa to establish whether there is a decrease in community similarity that corresponds to geographic distance in the grasslands of the Campos & Malezales ecoregion (Corrientes). Furthermore, the influence of climactic factors and local vegetation heterogeneity (environmental factors) on assemblage composition was evaluated. Finally, this study evaluated whether the differential dispersal capacity of spider families is a factor that influences their community structure at a regional scale. Spiders were collected with a G-Vac from vegetation in six grassland sites in the Campos & Malezales ecoregion that were separated by a minimum of 13 km. With this data, the impact of alpha-diversity and different environmental variables on the beta-diversity of spider communities was analysed. Likewise, the importance of species replacement and nesting on beta-diversity and their contribution to the regional diversity of spider families with different dispersion capacities was evaluated. The regional and site-specific inventories obtained were complete. The similarity between spider communities declined as the geographic distance between sites increased. Environmental variables also influenced community composition; stochastic events and abiotic forces were the principal intervening factors in assembly structure. The differential dispersal capacity of spider groups also influenced community structure at a regional scale. The regional beta-diversity, as well as species replacement, was greater in high and intermediate vagility spiders; while nesting was greater in spiders with low dispersion capacity. Geographic distance, among other factors (climate, and active and passive dispersion capacity), explains assembly structure and the decrease spider community similarity between geographically distant sites. Spiders with the highest dispersal capacity showed greater species replacement. This may be due to the discontinuity (both natural and anthropic) of the grasslands in this ecoregion, which limits the dispersal capacity of these spiders, and their close dependence on microhabitats. The dispersal capacity of the least vagile spiders is limited by geographic distance and biotic factors, such as competition, which could explain the nesting observed between their communities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T07:29:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fa04fa396e2a44d98a682417de29aea2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T07:29:46Z |
| publishDate | 2016-04-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PeerJ |
| spelling | doaj.art-fa04fa396e2a44d98a682417de29aea22023-12-03T06:46:56ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592016-04-014e194610.7717/peerj.1946Factors that influence the beta-diversity of spider communities in northwestern Argentinean GrasslandsSandra M. Rodriguez-Artigas0Rodrigo Ballester1Jose A. Corronca2CONICET, IEBI-Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Salta, Salta, ArgentinaCONICET, IEBI-Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Salta, Salta, ArgentinaCONICET, IEBI-Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Salta, Salta, ArgentinaBeta-diversity, defined as spatial replacement in species composition, is crucial to the understanding of how local communities assemble. These changes can be driven by environmental or geographic factors (such as geographic distance), or a combination of the two. Spiders have been shown to be good indicators of environmental quality. Accordingly, spiders are used in this work as model taxa to establish whether there is a decrease in community similarity that corresponds to geographic distance in the grasslands of the Campos & Malezales ecoregion (Corrientes). Furthermore, the influence of climactic factors and local vegetation heterogeneity (environmental factors) on assemblage composition was evaluated. Finally, this study evaluated whether the differential dispersal capacity of spider families is a factor that influences their community structure at a regional scale. Spiders were collected with a G-Vac from vegetation in six grassland sites in the Campos & Malezales ecoregion that were separated by a minimum of 13 km. With this data, the impact of alpha-diversity and different environmental variables on the beta-diversity of spider communities was analysed. Likewise, the importance of species replacement and nesting on beta-diversity and their contribution to the regional diversity of spider families with different dispersion capacities was evaluated. The regional and site-specific inventories obtained were complete. The similarity between spider communities declined as the geographic distance between sites increased. Environmental variables also influenced community composition; stochastic events and abiotic forces were the principal intervening factors in assembly structure. The differential dispersal capacity of spider groups also influenced community structure at a regional scale. The regional beta-diversity, as well as species replacement, was greater in high and intermediate vagility spiders; while nesting was greater in spiders with low dispersion capacity. Geographic distance, among other factors (climate, and active and passive dispersion capacity), explains assembly structure and the decrease spider community similarity between geographically distant sites. Spiders with the highest dispersal capacity showed greater species replacement. This may be due to the discontinuity (both natural and anthropic) of the grasslands in this ecoregion, which limits the dispersal capacity of these spiders, and their close dependence on microhabitats. The dispersal capacity of the least vagile spiders is limited by geographic distance and biotic factors, such as competition, which could explain the nesting observed between their communities.https://peerj.com/articles/1946.pdfGeographic distanceEnvironmental heterogeneityClimateCorrientes-ArgentinaDispersion |
| spellingShingle | Sandra M. Rodriguez-Artigas Rodrigo Ballester Jose A. Corronca Factors that influence the beta-diversity of spider communities in northwestern Argentinean Grasslands PeerJ Geographic distance Environmental heterogeneity Climate Corrientes-Argentina Dispersion |
| title | Factors that influence the beta-diversity of spider communities in northwestern Argentinean Grasslands |
| title_full | Factors that influence the beta-diversity of spider communities in northwestern Argentinean Grasslands |
| title_fullStr | Factors that influence the beta-diversity of spider communities in northwestern Argentinean Grasslands |
| title_full_unstemmed | Factors that influence the beta-diversity of spider communities in northwestern Argentinean Grasslands |
| title_short | Factors that influence the beta-diversity of spider communities in northwestern Argentinean Grasslands |
| title_sort | factors that influence the beta diversity of spider communities in northwestern argentinean grasslands |
| topic | Geographic distance Environmental heterogeneity Climate Corrientes-Argentina Dispersion |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/1946.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT sandramrodriguezartigas factorsthatinfluencethebetadiversityofspidercommunitiesinnorthwesternargentineangrasslands AT rodrigoballester factorsthatinfluencethebetadiversityofspidercommunitiesinnorthwesternargentineangrasslands AT joseacorronca factorsthatinfluencethebetadiversityofspidercommunitiesinnorthwesternargentineangrasslands |