Abstract
ABSTRACT Our goals were to determine whether the pattern of geographical distribution of dung beetles in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (BAF), Southeast Brazil, supports the identification of the areas of endemism in this biome, how the number and boundaries of the areas of endemism vary with the spatial scale used in the analysis, if the areas of endemism identified here are consistent with previous proposals described in the literature. We used the analysis of endemicity (NDM) on the distributional patterns of 198 species and subspecies of dung beetles in order to identify areas of endemism into grids of 0.25°x0.25°, 0.5°x0.5° and 1°x1°. A total of 15 consensus areas (CA) were identified with the different grid sizes employed (two of 0.25°, three of 0.5° and 10 of 1°). Our results support the assumptions about the influence of the grid size, since a smaller number of CA were identified for the 0.25° grids (02 CA), whereas by increasing the size of the units, there was an increase in the number of the areas of endemism (10 CA of 1°). Despite different levels of geographical congruence, the areas of endemism located in the BAF described elsewhere are corroborate, all or part of them. The overlap of these CA allowed the definition of three generalized areas of endemism: Southeast, Central and Southwest. These generalized areas encompassed habitats with great environmental variety, potentially influencing the levels of endemism of species of dung beetles. Furthermore, they were corroborated by other areas of endemism described in the literature, allowing us to argue that processes forming these regions have influenced dung beetle species as described for other groups of organisms.
Highlights
IntroductionNossos objetivos foram determinar se o padrão de distribuição geográfica de besouros rola-bostas na Mata Atlântica Brasileira (MAB), no sudeste do Brasil, permite a identificação das áreas de endemismo nesse bioma, como o número e os limites das áreas de endemismo variam com a escala espacial usada na análise, se as áreas de endemismo aqui identificadas são consistentes com propostas anteriores descritas na literatura
Using a quantitative approach through the NDM/VNDM method (Szumik et al, 2002; Szumik & Goloboff, 2004), our objectives were to assess: (1) if the pattern of geographical distribution of dung beetles in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (BAF) supports the identification of the areas of endemism in this biome; (2) how the number and boundaries of the areas of endemism vary with the spatial scale used in the analysis; (3) if the areas of endemism identified here are consistent with previous proposals described in the literature
The use of multiple grid sizes serves as a supporting measure for the areas of endemism identified (Aagesen et al, 2009; Casagranda et al, 2009), showing patterns which vary both in shape and in size (Szumik et al, 2012)
Summary
Nossos objetivos foram determinar se o padrão de distribuição geográfica de besouros rola-bostas na Mata Atlântica Brasileira (MAB), no sudeste do Brasil, permite a identificação das áreas de endemismo nesse bioma, como o número e os limites das áreas de endemismo variam com a escala espacial usada na análise, se as áreas de endemismo aqui identificadas são consistentes com propostas anteriores descritas na literatura. The isolation of BAF with respect to other forest biomes in South America entails evolutionary processes forming a unique biota with numerous cases of endemism (Rizzini, 1997; Myers et al, 2000; Silva & Castelletti, 2005; Santos et al, 2007). There have been no studies aimed at presenting a general proposal of biogeographic aspects of the dung beetles by identifying of the areas of endemism and the congruence of these patterns with other previously defined areas
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