Mean annual precipitation explains spatiotemporal patterns of Cenozoic mammal beta diversity and latitudinal diversity gradients in North America.

Danielle Fraser,Root Gorelick,Natalia Rybczynski,Christopher Hassall,Alistair Robert Evans

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0106499

Danielle Fraser, Root Gorelick + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0106499

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Abstract

Spatial diversity patterns are thought to be driven by climate-mediated processes. However, temporal patterns of community composition remain poorly studied. We provide two complementary analyses of North American mammal diversity, using (i) a paleontological dataset (2077 localities with 2493 taxon occurrences) spanning 21 discrete subdivisions of the Cenozoic based on North American Land Mammal Ages (36 Ma – present), and (ii) climate space model predictions for 744 extant mammals under eight scenarios of future climate change. Spatial variation in fossil mammal community structure (β diversity) is highest at intermediate values of continental mean annual precipitation (MAP) estimated from paleosols (∼450 mm/year) and declines under both wetter and drier conditions, reflecting diversity patterns of modern mammals. Latitudinal gradients in community change (latitudinal turnover gradients, aka LTGs) increase in strength through the Cenozoic, but also show a cyclical pattern that is significantly explained by MAP. In general, LTGs are weakest when continental MAP is highest, similar to modern tropical ecosystems in which latitudinal diversity gradients are weak or undetectable. Projections under modeled climate change show no substantial change in β diversity or LTG strength for North American mammals. Our results suggest that similar climate-mediated mechanisms might drive spatial and temporal patterns of community composition in both fossil and extant mammals. We also provide empirical evidence that the ecological processes on which climate space models are based are insufficient for accurately forecasting long-term mammalian response to anthropogenic climate change and inclusion of historical parameters may be essential.

Highlights

Terrestrial species from all major taxonomic groups show dramatic changes in richness and diversity across the landscape [1]
We propose that integrating the study of fossil, modern, and projected spatiotemporal patterns of community composition i) allows for the testing of ecological principles in the temporal dimension, ii) provides the most complete picture of diversity responses to climate change, and iii) enables evaluation of the performance of commonly employed climate space modeling (CSM)
The best fit model includes mean annual precipitation (MAP squared), length of the North American Land Mammal Age (NALMA) subdivision, and number of taxa, which together accounts for 67% of model variance (Table 2). b diversity is statistically significant for all three predictors (p,0.05)

Summary

Introduction

Terrestrial species from all major taxonomic groups show dramatic changes in richness and diversity across the landscape [1]. A satisfactory answer would identify and disentangle the drivers of biodiversity at all spatial scales, from the microhabitat to the globe, as well as explain changes through time. Attempts to provide such an answer have produced many studies of species richness patterns and community composition in extant organisms [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. Correlation of global climate with animal richness over the past

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