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Niche and neutral-based processes differ in importance for common and rare species in a metacommunity of anurans in subtropical grasslands

Iop, Samanta1; Caldart, Vinícius Matheus2; Vélez-Martin, Eduardo3; Santos, Tiago Gomes dos1; Prado, Paulo Inácio4; Pillar, Valério D.5; Cechin, Sonia Zanini6

Published Mar 06, 2024 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.qbzkh18qv

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Mar 06, 2024 version files 36.18 KB

Abstract

Most species-rich communities consist of a limited number of common species and many rare species. This widespread ecological pattern can arise due to the predominance of either niche-based or neutral-based processes in community structuring. We tested two hypotheses related to this pattern for an anuran metacommunity composed of 35 species distributed in 187 ponds in the South Brazilian grasslands: (1) for common species, niche processes should prevail over neutral ones because common species evolved under a wider range of ecological filters than rare species; (2) for rare species, neutral processes should prevail because rare species are more prone to ecological drift and dispersion limitation. We found that the densities of both common (i.e., the 25% higher density ones) and rare (i.e., the 75% lower density ones) species depended mostly on pond structure and land use, indicating a similar response to niche-based processes in both groups of species. The importance of pond descriptors and type of land use, however, differed between the two groups, confirming that common and rare species represent ecologically distinct groups within the metacommunity. In addition, neutral processes—related to dispersion limitation or not—influenced both species groups, but the spatial filters selected explained a smaller portion of the variation in species densities compared to environmental descriptors. Our findings showcase the prevalence of niche processes in structuring communities of common and rare species of anurans in subtropical grasslands and indicate the variables of pond structure and land use that are relevant to guide conservation practices for the metacommunity of anurans in the South Brazilian grasslands.