Shifting mammal communities and declining species richness along an elevational gradient on Mount Kenya.

Autor: Snider MH; Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources North Carolina State University Raleigh North Carolina USA., Helgen KM; Australian Museum Research Institute Sydney New South Wales Australia., Young HS; Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology University of California Santa Barbara Santa Barbara California USA., Agwanda B; Mammalogy Section National Museums of Kenya Nairobi Kenya., Schuttler S; North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences Raleigh North Carolina USA., Titcomb GC; Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology Colorado State University Fort Collins Colorado USA., Branch D; Department of Applied Sciences University of the West of England Bristol UK., Dommain R; Earth Observatory of Singapore Nanyang Technological University Singapore Singapore.; National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution Washington DC USA., Kays R; Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources North Carolina State University Raleigh North Carolina USA.; North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences Raleigh North Carolina USA.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Ecology and evolution [Ecol Evol] 2024 Apr 09; Vol. 14 (4), pp. e11151. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Apr 09 (Print Publication: 2024).
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.11151
Abstrakt: Conservation areas encompassing elevation gradients are biodiversity hotspots because they contain a wide range of habitat types in a relatively small space. Studies of biodiversity patterns along elevation gradients, mostly on small mammal or bird species, have documented a peak in diversity at mid elevations. Here, we report on a field study of medium and large mammals to examine the impact of elevation, habitat type, and gross primary productivity on community structure. Species richness was observed using a camera trap transect with 219 sites situated across different habitat types from 2329 to 4657 m above the sea level on the western slope of Mt Kenya, the second highest mountain in Africa. We found that the lowest elevation natural habitats had the highest species richness and relative abundance and that both metrics decreased steadily as elevation increased, paralleling changes in gross primary productivity, and supporting the energy richness hypothesis. We found no evidence for the mid-domain effect on species diversity. The lowest elevation degraded Agro-Forestry lands adjacent to the National Park had high activity of domestic animals and reduced diversity and abundance of native species. The biggest difference in community structure was between protected and unprotected areas, followed by more subtle stepwise differences between habitats at different elevations. Large carnivore species remained relatively consistent but dominant herbivore species shifted along the elevation gradient. There was some habitat specialization and turnover in species, such that the elevation gradient predicts a high diversity of species, demonstrating the high conservation return for protecting mountain ecosystems for biodiversity conservation.
Competing Interests: No conflicts of interest are known between any co‐author and outside entities regarding fiscal, board membership, consultancy, or any other overlap.
(© 2024 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
Externí odkaz: