1 research outputs found
Differential responses of Miocene rodent metacommunities to global climatic changes were mediated by environmental context
The study of how long-term changes affect metacommunities is a relevant topic, that involves the
evaluation of connections among biological assemblages across different spatio-temporal scales, in
order to fully understand links between global changes and macroevolutionary patterns. We applied
multivariate statistical analyses and diversity tests using a large data matrix of rodent fossil sites in
order to analyse long-term faunal changes. Late Miocene rodent faunas from southwestern Europe
were classified into metacommunities, presumably sharing ecological affinities, which followed
temporal and environmental non-random assembly and disassembly patterns. Metacommunity
dynamics of these faunas were driven by environmental changes associated with temperature
variability, but there was also some influence from the aridity shifts described for this region during
the late Miocene. Additionally, while variations in the structure of rodent assemblages were directly
influenced by global climatic changes in the southern province, the northern sites showed a pattern of
climatic influence mediated by diversity-dependent processes.Peer reviewe