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Nestedness of desert bat assemblages: species composition patterns in insular and terrestrial landscapes

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Abstract

Nested patterns of community composition exist when species at depauperate sites are subsets of those occurring at sites with more species. Nested subset analysis provides a framework for analyzing species occurrences to determine non-random patterns in community composition and potentially identify mechanisms that may shape faunal assemblages. We examined nested subset structure of desert bat assemblages on 20 islands in the southern Gulf of California and at 27 sites along the Baja California peninsula coast, the presumable source pool for the insular faunas. Nested structure was analyzed using a conservative null model that accounts for expected variation in species richness and species incidence across sites (fixed row and column totals). Associations of nestedness and island traits, such as size and isolation, as well as species traits related to mobility, were assessed to determine the potential role of differential extinction and immigration abilities as mechanisms of nestedness. Bat faunas were significantly nested in both the insular and terrestrial landscape and island size was significantly correlated with nested structure, such that species on smaller islands tended to be subsets of species on larger islands, suggesting that differential extinction vulnerabilities may be important in shaping insular bat faunas. The role of species mobility and immigration abilities is less clearly associated with nestedness in this system. Nestedness in the terrestrial landscape is likely due to stochastic processes related to random placement of individuals and this may also influence nested patterns on islands, but additional data on abundances will be necessary to distinguish among these potential mechanisms.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Elizabeth Kalko, Bruce Patterson, and one anonymous reviewer for insightful feedback that greatly improved the manuscript. Doug Robinson, Dave Lytle, and William Rainey made helpful comments on earlier drafts. Thanks to Araceli Samaniego at Conservación de Islas and Roberto Martínez Gallardo for providing local support to conduct our research in Mexico. We would like to thank Miguel A. Rodríguez-Gironés for his help with program BinMatNest, including making special versions for our use. Many thanks to G. Emma Flores Rojas, John Gilreath, Willa Veber, and Amy Whitesides for field and lab assistance. W. Frick was supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. The Central Coast Bat Research Group provided additional funding and field support.

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Author notes

  1. Winifred F. Frick

    Present address: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Earth and Marine Science A308, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, USA

  2. John P. Hayes

    Present address: Central Coast Bat Research Group, P.O. Box 1352, Aptos, CA, 95001-1352, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forest Science, Oregon State University, 321 Richardson Hall, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA

    Winifred F. Frick & John P. Hayes

  2. Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, 110 Newins-Ziegler Hall, P.O. Box 110430, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    John P. Hayes

  3. Central Coast Bat Research Group, P.O. Box 1352, Aptos, CA, 95001-1352, USA

    Paul A. Heady III

Authors
  1. Winifred F. Frick
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  2. John P. Hayes
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  3. Paul A. Heady III
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Correspondence to Winifred F. Frick.

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Communicated by Elisabeth Kalko.

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Frick, W.F., Hayes, J.P. & Heady III, P.A. Nestedness of desert bat assemblages: species composition patterns in insular and terrestrial landscapes. Oecologia 158, 687–697 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-008-1168-x

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