title: Landscape heterogeneity-biodiversity relationship: effect of range size.
abstract: The importance of landscape heterogeneity to biodiversity may depend on the size of the geographic range of species, which in turn can reflect species traits (such as habitat generalization) and the effects of historical and contemporary land covers. We used nationwide bird survey data from Japan, where heterogeneous landscapes predominate, to test the hypothesis that wide-ranging species are positively associated with landscape heterogeneity in terms of species richness and abundance, whereas narrow-ranging species are positively associated with landscape homogeneity in the form of either open or forest habitats. We used simultaneous autoregressive models to explore the effects of climate, evapotranspiration, and landscape heterogeneity on the richness and abundance of breeding land-bird species. The richness of wide-ranging species and the total species richness were highest in heterogeneous landscapes, where many wide-ranging species showed the highest abundance. In contrast, the richness of narrow-ranging species was not highest in heterogeneous landscapes; most of those species were abundant in either open or forest landscapes. Moreover, in open landscapes, narrow-ranging species increased their species richness with decreasing temperature. These results indicate that heterogeneous landscapes are associated with rich bird diversity but that most narrow-ranging species prefer homogeneous landscapes--particularly open habitats in colder regions, where grasslands have historically predominated. There is a need to reassess the generality of the heterogeneity-biodiversity relationship, with attention to the characteristics of species assemblages determined by environments at large spatiotemporal scales.
authors.affiliation: Biodiversity Division, National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki, Japan.
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Katayama
authors.affiliation: Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Tatsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Amano
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biodiversity Science, School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Shoji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Naoe
authors.affiliation: Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Takehisa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamakita
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biodiversity Science, School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Isamu
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Komatsu
authors.affiliation: The Nature Conservation Society of Japan, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Shin-ichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takagawa
authors.affiliation: Biodiversity Center of Japan, Kamiyoshida, Fujiyoshida-shi, Yamanashi, Japan.
authors.forename: Naoto
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.affiliation: Japan Bird Research Association, Fuchu-shi, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Mutsuyuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ueta
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biodiversity Science, School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Tadashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miyashita
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D063147:Animal Distribution / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D001717:Birds / Q000502:physiology*; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D017753:Ecosystem; D005260:Female; D065928:Forests; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D012098:Reproduction / Q000502:physiology*; D014197:Trees / Q000502:physiology