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Seasonality in metacommunity structure: an empirical test in the Atlantic Forest

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Abstract

Context

The metacommunity concept helps to understand how local and regional processes regulate species distributions in landscapes. Metacommunity structure is often assumed as static, but may be rather dynamic, following temporal changes along environmental gradients.

Objectives

We present an empirical test of the temporal dynamics of metacommunity structure, using small mammals in an Atlantic Forest landscape as a model system.

Methods

We analyzed incidence matrices using the Elements of Metacommunity Structure framework and evaluated whether local, landscape, and spatial factors structured the metacommunity during different climatic seasons (HS = humid; SHS = super-humid) and time periods (1 = 1999–2001; 2 = 2005–2009). We compared HS-1 and SHS-1 to evaluate if metacommunity structure varies between seasons, and HS-1 and HS-2 to evaluate if it varies between time periods.

Results

Metacommunity structure changed from Clementsian (HS-1) to random (SHS-1), but during HS-2 it was Clementsian again. This suggests that groups of species are responding similarly to the major gradient of variation during the HS only. Patch size structured the metacommunity during both humid periods, and local habitat structure only during HS-1. We suggest that during the SHS these gradients are lost due to increased matrix permeability to movement, which homogenizes local communities resulting in a random structure.

Conclusions

Species habitat requirements and specializations determined metacommunity structure, but only during the HS. The Clementsian structure indicates that forest disturbances may result in the loss of whole groups of species during the HS. Alternating patterns of metacommunity structure may be associated to changes on matrix suitability between seasons.

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Data accessibility

Data are presented in ESM 1–2.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the students and staff of the Laboratório de Vertebrados (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro), particularly Angela Marcondes, Maycon Belarmino, Natalie Olifiers, and Nélio Barros. We also thank Carlos Grelle for comments on previous statistical analyses, and Renato Crouzeilles for providing the measures of forest fragments isolation and habitat amount. Two anonymous reviewers provided valuable suggestions to the manuscript. Landowners of the study sites at the Macacu River basin that allowed access to their lands for scientific research. Financial support was provided by grants from Projetos Demonstrativos/Ministério do Meio Ambiente, Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ; to JAP, MVV, and RC), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq; to JAP, MVV, and RC), PPBIO/CNPq/Rede Bio.Ma, PROBIO I/MMA/GEF, and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES). ACD has a postdoctoral scholarship from CAPES/FAPERJ (PAPD- E-26/202.144/2015); VNTBJ from CNPq/PDJ (157750-9) and CNPq/CAPES/PELD (88887.137536/2017-00); and CB from CNPq/CAPES/FAPs/PELD (88887.140649/2017-00). SER has a doctoral fellowship from CAPES/PROEX (1343229). Permissions to handle animals were given by Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis/Ministério do Meio Ambiente (Authorization numbers 87/05-RJ, 099/06-RJ, 13861-1, 13861-2, and 16703).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Vertebrados, Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Ilha do Fundão, CP 68020, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, CEP 21941-902, Brazil

    Ana Cláudia Delciellos, Vitor Nelson Teixeira Borges-Júnior, Suzy Emidio Ribeiro, Marcus Vinícius Vieira & Rui Cerqueira

  2. Laboratório de Ecologia de Paisagens, Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, CEP 20550-900, Brazil

    Jayme Augusto Prevedello

  3. Laboratório Integrado de Zoologia, Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Núcleo em Ecologia e Desenvolvimento Socioambiental de Macaé, Macaé, RJ, CEP 27965-045, Brazil

    Caryne Braga

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  1. Ana Cláudia Delciellos
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  2. Vitor Nelson Teixeira Borges-Júnior
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Correspondence to Ana Cláudia Delciellos.

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Delciellos, A.C., Borges-Júnior, V.N.T., Prevedello, J.A. et al. Seasonality in metacommunity structure: an empirical test in the Atlantic Forest. Landscape Ecol 33, 1769–1783 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-018-0701-5

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