Common distribution patterns of marsupials related to physiographical diversity in Venezuela
Ventura Queija, Jacinto (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Biologia Animal, de Biologia Vegetal i d'Ecologia)
Bagaria Morató, Guillem (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Sans Fuentes, Maria Assumpció (Universitat de Barcelona. Departament de Fisiologia Animal)
Pérez Hernández, Roger (Universidad Central de Venezuela. Instituto de Zoología y Ecología Tropical)

Date:	2014
Abstract:	The aim of this study is to identify significant biotic regions (groups of areas with similar biotas) and biotic elements (groups of taxa with similar distributions) for the marsupial fauna in a part of northern South America using physiographical areas as Operational Geographical Units (OGUs). We considered Venezuela a good model to elucidate this issue because of its high diversity in landscapes and the relatively vast amount of information available on the geographical distribution of marsupial species. Based on the presence-absence of 33 species in 15 physiographical sub-regions (OGUs) we identified Operational Biogeographical Units (OBUs) and chorotypes using a quantitative analysis that tested statistical significance of the resulting groups. Altitudinal and/or climatic trends in the OBUs and chorotypes were studied using a redundancy analysis. The classification method revealed four OBUs. Strong biotic boundaries separated: i) the xerophytic zone of the Continental coast (OBU I); ii) the sub-regions north of the Orinoco River (OBU III and IV); and those south to the river (OBU II). Eleven chorotypes were identified, four of which included a single species with a restricted geographic distribution. As for the other chorotypes, three main common distribution patterns have been inferred: i) species from the Llanos and/or distributed south of the Orinoco River; ii) species exclusively from the Andes; and iii) species that either occur exclusively north of the Orinoco River or that show a wide distribution throughout Venezuela. Mean altitude, evapotranspiration and precipitation of the driest month, and temperature range allowed us to characterize environmentally most of the OBUs and chorotypes obtained.
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Marsupials ; Venezuela ; Biotas ; Biotic regions ; Biotic elements
Published in:	PloS one, Vol. 9, Issue 5 (May 2014) , p. e96714, ISSN 1932-6203
Related work:	The PLOS ONE Staff (2014). Correction: Common Distribution Patterns of Marsupials Related to Physiographical Diversity in Venezuela. PLoS ONE 9(8):e104466 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0104466

Enllaç a la correcció: https://ddd.uab.cat/record/283148
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0096714
PMID: 24806452

13 p, 1.8 MB

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > CREAF (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles