Patterns of coexistence of two species of freshwater turtles are affected by spatial scale |
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| Authors: | P Segurado WE Kunin AF Filipe MB Araújo |
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| Institution: | 1. Rui Nabeiro Biodiversity Chair, CIBIO, Largo dos Colegiais, 7000-730 Évora, Portugal;2. Forest Research Centre, Technical University of Lisbon, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal;3. Earth and Biosphere Institute, IICB, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT Leeds, UK;4. Centre of Environmental Biology and Department of Animal Biology, Faculty of Science of Lisbon University, FCUL, Campo Grande, Ed C2, 2°, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal;5. Department of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, National Museum of Natural Sciences, CSIC, C/José Gutiérrez Abascal, 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain;6. Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark;1. Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, 442 Earth Sciences Building, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 2E3;2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, 144 Earth Sciences Building, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 2E3;3. Northern Forestry Centre, Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada, 5320-122 Street, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6H 3S5;4. Postgrado en Edafología, Colegio de Postgraduados, Km. 36.5 Carretera México-Texcoco, Montecillo, Texcoco, Edo. de México C.P. 56230, Mexico |
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| Abstract: | Inferring biotic interactions from the examination of patterns of species occurrences has been a central tenet in community ecology, and it has recently gained interest in the context of single-species distribution modelling. However, understanding of how spatial extent and grain size affect such inferences remains elusive. For example, would inferences of biotic interactions from broad-scale patterns of coexistence provide a surrogate for patterns at finer spatial scales? In this paper we examine how the spatial and environmental association between two closely related species of freshwater turtles in the Iberian Peninsula is affected by the geographical extent and resolution of the analysis. Species coexistence was compared across spatial scales using five datasets at varying spatial extents and resolutions. Both similarities in the two species’ use of space and in their responses to environmental variables were explored by means of regression analyses. We show that a positive association between the two species measured at broader scales can switch to a negative association at finer scales. We demonstrate that without examination of the effects of spatial scale when investigating biotic interactions using co-occurrence patterns observed at coarse resolutions, conclusions can be deeply misleading. |
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