Towards the spatial coherence of biogeographical regionalizations at subcontinental and landscape scales

0466475 - ÚGN 2017 RIV GB eng J - Článek v odborném periodiku
Divíšek, Jan - Storch, D. - Zelený, D. - Culek, M.
Towards the spatial coherence of biogeographical regionalizations at subcontinental and landscape scales.
Journal of Biogeography. Roč. 43, č. 43 (2016), s. 2489-2501. ISSN 0305-0270. E-ISSN 1365-2699
Institucionální podpora: RVO:68145535
Klíčová slova: beta diversity * biogeographical regions * spatial scale
Kód oboru RIV: DE - Zemský magnetismus, geodézie, geografie
Impakt faktor: 4.248, rok: 2016
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jbi.12832/full

One of the fundamental tools in biogeography is the classification of the Earth surface into spatially coherent units based on assemblage distinctiveness. However, spatial coherence of biogeographical regions may be scale-dependent, that is, it may change with changing the size of spatial units used. We ask (1) how the clusters resulting from the classification of animal assemblages at different spatial scales differ in their spatial coherence, (2) whether there are geographical trends in the patterns of spatial coherence, and (3) what factors drive these patterns at different scales and in different areas of Europe. Location: Europe. Methods: We used data from distribution atlases at two spatial scales (50 × 50 km and c. 10 × 10 km) and, for each scale, we selected four different areas across Europe, each of them covered by 250 grid cells. We classified each area based on the distributions of mammals (coarser scale only) and birds (both scales). Subsequently, we calculated the spatial coherence of resulting clusters and correlated it with environmental factors and geographical distance. Results: Coarse-scale classifications provided more spatially coherent clusters than the classifications at the finer scale and this pattern was closely related to different strength of distance decay of similarity in the species composition at different scales. Spatial coherence revealed latitudinal trends, so that coarse-scale clusters were more spatially coherent in northern Europe. Geographical distance was the best predictor of spatial patterns at the coarser scale, although this effect was strong only in central and northern Europe. At the finer scale, topography and land cover composition were the most important. Main conclusions: Spatial coherence of biogeographical regionalizations depends on scale and varies geographically.
Trvalý link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0264755