title: Large-scale patterns in morphological diversity and species assemblages in Neotropical Triatominae (Heteroptera: Reduviidae).
abstract: We analysed the spatial variation in morphological diversity (MDiv) and species richness (SR) for 91 species of Neotropical Triatominae to determine the ecological relationships between SR and MDiv and to explore the roles that climate, productivity, environmental heterogeneity and the presence of biomes and rivers may play in the structuring of species assemblages. For each 110 km x 110 km-cell on a grid map of America, we determined the number of species (SR) and estimated the mean Gower index (MDiv) based on 12 morphological attributes. We performed bootstrapping analyses of species assemblages to identify whether those assemblages were more similar or dissimilar in their morphology than expected by chance. We applied a multi-model selection procedure and spatial explicit analyses to account for the association of diversity-environment relationships. MDiv and SR both showed a latitudinal gradient, although each peaked at different locations and were thus not strictly spatially congruent. SR decreased with temperature variability and MDiv increased with mean temperature, suggesting a predominant role for ambient energy in determining Triatominae diversity. Species that were more similar than expected by chance co-occurred near the limits of the Triatominae distribution in association with changes in environmental variables. Environmental filtering may underlie the structuring of species assemblages near their distributional limits.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio Ecotono, Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche, Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Argentina, San Carlos de BarilocheRío Negro.
authors.forename: Paula Nilda
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Fergnani
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio Ecotono, Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche, Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Argentina, San Carlos de BarilocheRío Negro.
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ruggiero
authors.affiliation: Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectores, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina, La PlataBuenos Aires.
authors.forename: Soledad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ceccarelli
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biometry and Evolutionary Biology, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France, Villeurbanne.
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Menu
authors.affiliation: Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectores, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina, La PlataBuenos Aires.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rabinovich
mesh_terms: D000569:Americas; D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D002980:Climate; D062306:Geography, Medical; D013045:Species Specificity; D014225:Triatominae / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000145:classification*