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Diniz-Filho, José Alexandre Felizola1; De Sant’Ana, Carlos Eduardo Ramos2,3; De Souza, Márcia Christianne1,4; Rangel, Thiago F.L.V.B.1: Null models and spatial
patterns of species richness in South American birds of prey. Ecology Letters, 5: 47-55 (2002)
1Departamento de Biologia Geral, ICB, Universidade Federal de Goiás, CP. 131, 74001-970, Goiânia, GO, Brazil, e-mail:diniz@icb1.ufg.br
2Centro
Federal de Educação Tecnológica (CEFET-GO), 74055-110, Rua 75, no 46, Setor Central, Goiânia, GO, Brazil
3Graduate Program in Animal Biology, Universidade de Brasilia, Brazil
4Graduate
Program in Ecology, ICB, Universidade Federal de Goiás, CP. 131, 74001-970, Goiânia, GO, Brazil
Abstract
In this paper, we used geostatistical approaches to describe bi-dimensional spatial patterns in species richness of South America birds of prey (Falconiformes and Strigiformes). They indicated strong spatial patterns
both across latitude and longitude, for the two groups. These patterns were then correlated with those expected by a bi-dimensional null model constructed to take into account South America continental edges. As
considerable departures from the null model were observed, there may be other ecological or evolutionary explanations for spatial patterns in species richness. Variation seems to be related to habitat heterogeneity
across the continent, especially when considering differences between habitats in the central and south-eastern portion of the continent and in the Andean region. This supports previous conclusions that habitat type
and heterogeneity affect species richness and abundance at different spatial scales.
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