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A stream by any other name: does β-diversity differ between Nearctic and Neotropical streams?

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Abstract

Beta diversity typically increases with decreasing latitude, with explanations of this pattern often based on tropical origins of most clades. Black flies (Diptera: Simuliidae) are at odds with this trend, having a northern origin. Increasing β-diversity with decreasing latitude might also be a product of changes in causal mechanisms structuring local assemblages among biogeographical realms. We tested the hypotheses that (i) β-diversity of black flies in streams should be similar between the Nearctic and Neotropical realms, and (ii) causal processes influencing species composition do not differ between these areas. To this end, we examined two Nearctic (USA) and two Neotropical data sets (Ecuador, Venezuela). Results did not show distinct differences in β-diversity between Nearctic and Neotropical streams. Although stream conditions varied among regions, we provide evidence that several causal mechanisms of community structure are shared. We suggest that potentially similar causal mechanisms driving species composition contributed to the lack of distinct differences in β-diversity between Nearctic and Neotropical streams. In addition, dispersal appears to influence the β-diversity of larval black flies, a pattern different from many previous studies of stream invertebrates. The influence of taxon origins on β-diversity across biogeographic realms should be further investigated.

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Acknowledgments

Collecting was made possible by grants from the National Geographic Society (9218-12) to JWM, a National Science Foundation award (DEB-0841636) to PHA, and an INPA/PPI 1-3400 and a CNPq fellowship (201165/93-7) to NH. The research by PHA was supported, in part, by NIFA/USDA under project number SC-1700527; this is Technical Contribution No. 6817 of the Clemson University Experiment Station. Collecting permission was obtained from Parque Nacional Grande Savana, Venezuela (collecting permit from Inparques issued to MEG) and for Esmeraldas province, Ecuador, (collecting permit issued to JWM, Ministerio del Ambient, Esmeraldas Province, MAE-DPAE-2014-0627). An export permit of material from Ecuador was provided by the Ministerio del Ambient, Esmeraldas Province, MAE-DPAE-2014-0511 (issued to JWM). For our Ecuadorian fieldwork, we thank Charlotte Causton (Darwin Foundation) for facilitating our efforts and Denis Mosquera Muñoz for guiding our expedition. We also thank three anonymous reviewers whose detailed comments improved the manuscript.

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  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Alabama, 5871 USA Dr. N, Biology, LSB Rm 124, Mobile, AL, 36688, USA

    John W. McCreadie

  2. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, AM, Brazil

    Neusa Hamada

  3. Instituto de Zoología y Ecología Tropical, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela

    Maria E. Grillet

  4. Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, 29634, USA

    Peter H. Adler

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  1. John W. McCreadie
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Correspondence to John W. McCreadie.

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McCreadie, J.W., Hamada, N., Grillet, M.E. et al. A stream by any other name: does β-diversity differ between Nearctic and Neotropical streams?. Hydrobiologia 848, 811–823 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-020-04484-8

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