Biology subjects

Porto, L. M. V.

Publications and source records attributed to Porto, L. M. V..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2021

The effect of climate change on the distribution of Canidae

Land use by humans and climate change have been seriously affecting the distribution of species resulting in a quarter of all known mammals currently threatened with extinction. Here, we modeled the present and future potential distributions of all 36 extant Canidae species to evaluate their response to future climate scenarios. In addition, we tested if canids were likely to experience evolutionary rescue, which could allow some species to adapt to climate change. Our results suggest that global warming will cause most species to lose or maintain their ranges, while a few will have the potential to benefit from future conditions and considerably expand their geographic distributions. Some canids have the potential to experience evolutionary rescue, but Atelocynus microtis and Chrysocyon brachyurus are two concerning cases that do not show this capacity to adapt given the current pace of climate change. We also reveal that most Canidae hotspot regions are outside protected areas, which may be useful for the identification of key areas for conservation.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2021

Competition and environmental gradients structure Canidae assemblages across the planet

The phylogenetic information of assemblages carries the signature of ecological and evolutionary processes that assembled these communities. Identifying the mechanisms that shape communities is not simple, as they can vary spatially. Here, we investigated how the phylogenetic structure of Canidae across the globe is affected by the environment and competition. We first identified phylogenetically clustered and overdispersed assemblages of canids over the planet taking into account regional pools of species in South and North America, Eurasia, and Africa. Then, we applied Structural Equation Models in these communities in order to identify the effect of temperature, vegetation cover, human impact, and body size dissimilarity on the spatial distribution of the phylogenetic information of canids. Only southern South America and the Middle East had strong phylogenetic clustered patterns, while the rest of the planet predominantly showed overdispersed assemblages. Body size dissimilarity and vegetation cover were the most important variables to explain the spatial patterns of phylogenetic structure in clustered and overdispersed communities, respectively. Canidae community composition across the world presents significant patterns of clustering and overdispersion, which vary following mainly the environmental gradient, suggesting habitat filtering as the main force acting on Canidae assemblages.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2021

Explosive diversification following continental colonizations by canids

Colonization of a new environment may trigger an explosive radiation process, defined as an accelerated accumulation of species in a short period of time. However, how often colonization events trigger explosive radiations is still an open question. We studied the worldwide dispersal of the subfamily Caninae, to investigate whether the invasion of new continents resulted in explosive radiations. We used a combination of phylogenetic analyses and ancestral area reconstructions to estimate ancestral ranges of 56 extant and extinct species of Caninae, as well as variation in speciation and extinction rates through time and across clades. Our findings indicate that canids experienced an explosive radiation event when lineages were able to cross the Bering Strait and the Isthmus of Panama to reach Eurasia and South America, respectively, around 11 million years ago. This large number of species arising in a short period of time suggests that canids experienced ecological opportunity events within the new areas, implying that the differences in the ecological settings between continents may be responsible for the variation in clade dynamics. We argue that interaction with other carnivores probably also affected the diversification dynamics of canids.

evolutionary biology↗