An assessment of the niche centroid hypothesis: Pteropus lylei (Chiroptera)

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorChaiyes, Aingornen
dc.contributor.authorEscobar, Luis E.en
dc.contributor.authorWillcox, Emma, V.en
dc.contributor.authorDuengkae, Prateepen
dc.contributor.authorSuksavate, Warongen
dc.contributor.authorWatcharaanantapong, Pattarawanen
dc.contributor.authorPongpattananurak, Nantachaien
dc.contributor.authorWacharapluesadee, Supapornen
dc.contributor.authorHemachudha, Thiravaten
dc.contributor.departmentFish and Wildlife Conservationen
dc.date.accessioned2020-08-25T12:35:33Zen
dc.date.available2020-08-25T12:35:33Zen
dc.date.issued2020-05en
dc.description.abstractRecent ecological theories propose that species reach their highest abundance and genetic diversity in the center of their ecological niche and decline toward the edges. We assessed whether Lyle's flying fox, Pteropus lylei, abundance and genetic diversity were correlated with niche centroid distance using an ecological niche model as a proxy for fundamental niche (N-F). Alternatively, we assessed whether P. lylei abundance and genetic diversity were correlated with fine-scale environmental factors as a proxy of the species' realized niche (N-R). We examined relationships between abundance and environmental factors at coarse and fine scales as proxies of N-F and N-R, respectively. For coarse scale, ecological niche of P. lylei was modeled using all available occurrence records in Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, coupled with climatic data. We conducted field measurements of P. lylei abundance and used genetic structure data across a large portion of the species' range. We measured Euclidean distances between abundance and genetic data and the niche centroid in environmental dimensions. Spearman's correlation was estimated between abundance and genetic diversity vs. distance to the niche centroid. Complementarily, for the fine-scale test, we measured multiple regression models between abundance and genetic diversity versus the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), local temperature, percent area of waterbodies, human density, and number of Buddhist temples. We failed to detect relationships between abundance and genetic diversity with the distance to the niche centroid in the coarse-scale model. When using the fine-scale, landscape-level data, we found negative correlation between genetic diversity and number of temples. The data available were unable to support niche centroid hypothesis for the current distribution and abundances of P. lylei. We note that our failure to find an association does not support nor reject the niche centroid hypothesis. Instead, our capacity to test the niche centroid hypothesis may be limited by our ability to use empirical data to accurately reconstruct N-F from field observations only. Future research may require physiology-based experimental approaches to explore relationships between species abundances and the niche structure.en
dc.description.notesThis research was supported by a Research Chair Grant (P-13-01091) "Zoonotic diseases: role of reservoirs and vectors, diagnosis, mechanism and therapeutic," by the Cluster and Program Management Office (CPMO) (P-15-50535), and by "Wildlife Habitat restoration for prey species of tiger in Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex" (P-18-51249) of the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), the Centre for Advanced Studies in Tropical Natural Resources, National Research University, Kasetsart University, (CASTNAR, NRU-KU), Bangkok, Thailand, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Emerging Pandemic Threats PREDICT program. We thank Paige Van de Vuurst for her comments and editions that improved the final version of this manuscript. Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to thank you for reviewers for taking the time and effort necessary to provide insightful guidance.en
dc.description.sponsorshipCluster and Program Management Office (CPMO) [P-15-50535]; "Wildlife Habitat restoration for prey species of tiger in Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex" of the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) [P-18-51249]; Centre for Advanced Studies in Tropical Natural Resources, National Research University, Kasetsart University, (CASTNAR, NRU-KU), Bangkok, Thailand; United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Emerging Pandemic Threats PREDICT programUnited States Agency for International Development (USAID); [P-13-01091]en
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3134en
dc.identifier.issn2150-8925en
dc.identifier.issue5en
dc.identifier.othere03134en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/99837en
dc.identifier.volume11en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 Internationalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en
dc.subjectabundanceen
dc.subjectconservationen
dc.subjectdistributionen
dc.subjectecological niche modelingen
dc.subjectfundamental nicheen
dc.subjectLyle's flying foxen
dc.subjectniche centroid hypothesisen
dc.subjectrangeen
dc.subjectrealized nicheen
dc.titleAn assessment of the niche centroid hypothesis: Pteropus lylei (Chiroptera)en
dc.title.serialEcosphereen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten
dc.type.dcmitypeStillImageen

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
ecs2.3134.pdf
Size:
3.06 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download

Collections

Scholarly Works, Fish and Wildlife Conservation