title: Identifying ecological barriers in marine environment: The case study of Dasyatis marianae.
abstract: Ecological barriers are important determinants of the evolution and distributions marine organisms, and a challenge for evolutionary ecologists seeking to understand population structure in the sea. Dasyatis marianae is an endemic Brazilian species that indicates certain restrictions on its distribution probably due to marine barriers. In this study, Bayesian hierarchical spatial models, jointly with environmental and occurrence species data, are used to identify, which elements could generate these barriers on Dasyatis marianae distribution. Results show that salinity and temperature are the most important drivers that play an essential role to limit the distribution of this species. Indeed, low salinity values restrict Dasyatis marianae distribution in the north of the Brazilian coast, while in the south are colder temperatures. These results highlight the need to better define the distribution of marine species, especially for the ones affected by ecological barriers that are more sensitive to environmental changes.
authors.affiliation: Ocean Laboratory, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Dept. of Ecology, Campus Universitário s/n, Lagoa Nova, CEP 59.098-970, Natal, RN, Brazil. Electronic address: tiegobiomar@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Tiego L A
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.affiliation: Ocean Laboratory, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Dept. of Ecology, Campus Universitário s/n, Lagoa Nova, CEP 59.098-970, Natal, RN, Brazil; Instituto Español de Oceanografía, Centro Oceanográfico de Murcia, Calle Varadero 1, 30740 San Pedro del Pianatar, Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: M Grazia
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Pennino
authors.affiliation: Ocean Laboratory, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Dept. of Ecology, Campus Universitário s/n, Lagoa Nova, CEP 59.098-970, Natal, RN, Brazil.
authors.forename: Liana F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Mendes
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D059001:Aquatic Organisms; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D001938:Brazil; D004463:Ecology; D017753:Ecosystem; D004777:Environment; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D012860:Skates, Fish / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Bayesian hierarchical models; Coastal waters; Salinity; Species distribution models; Stingray; Temperature