Regional zoogeographical zoning using species distribution modelling by the example of small mammals of South-Eastern Transbaikalia

Obolenskaya E.V., Lissovsky A.A.

P. 171-185

Zoogeographical studies of regional scale always deal with incompleteness of faunal information. Such information is usually available as a set of localities, covering the studied area as an irregular network. At the same time, full coverage of data is needed for any spatial analysis. In this study, we attempted to perform faunal zoning at a regional level, formalising the procedure to the greatest extent possible. We used 47 small mammal species distribution models (SDM) as initial data for faunal zoning. SDMs were previously constructed based on localities determined using museum labels and environmental data with the maximum entropy method. SDMs were converted to binary values using fixed threshold. We calculated 1-Jaccard similarity coefficients between unique sets of predicted species compositions in each raster cell. The resulting dissimilarity matrix was analysed using hierarchical cluster analysis with the Ward and unweighted average methods. We distinguished three large clusters with nine subclusters based the similarity of the fauna composition. Patterns of the spatial distribution of species numbers and species composition homogeneity were obtained. The relationships between the distribution of species richness and the spatial heterogeneity of the fauna with latitude, longitude, altitude and environmental factors were studied using regression and discriminant analysis. Finally, two faunas were found in South-Eastern Transbaikalia, and a large territory in this region is occupied by a zone of their interpenetration. Analysis of stacked SDMs proposed as important tool for investigation of regional zoogeographical heterogeneity. It is especially useful for extrapolation of faunal data to a larger unstudied territory.DOI: 10.15298/rusjtheriol.14.2.06

• Afanas'ev A.V. 1960. [Zoogeography of Kazakhstan (on the basis of mammal distribution)]. Alma Ata: Izdatel'stvo Akademii Nauk Kazakhskoy SSR. 535 p. [in Russian].
• Allaby M. 2010. A Dictionary of Ecology. 4 edition. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. 432 p.
• Arefyeva V.A., Vendrov S.A., Dreier N.N. & Rossolimo L.L. 1965. [Waters] // Preobrazhenskiy V.S. (ed.). [Cisbaikalia and Transbaikalia]. Moscow: Nauka. P.139-183 [in Russian].
• Bannikov A.G. 1954a. [Mammals of the Mongolian People Republic]. Moscow-Leningrad: Izdatel'stvo Akademii Nauk SSSR. 669 p. [in Russian].
• Bannikov A.G. 1954b. [Zoogeographical regions of Mongolia and history of formation of mammalian fauna of the country] // Baranskiy N.N. (ed.). [Questions of geography]. Moscow: Geographgiz. P.28-37 [in Russian].
• Barbosa A.M., Estrada A., Márquez A.L., Purvis A. & Orme D.C.L. 2012. Atlas versus range maps: robustness of chorological relationships to distribution data types in European mammals // Journal of Biogeography. Vol.39. No.8. P.1391–1400.
• Carroll M.L., Di Miceli C.M., Sohlberg R.A. & Townshend J.R.G. 2003. 250*m MODIS Normalized Difference Vegetation Index. Maryland: University of Maryland.
• Cherkasov A.A. 1867. [Memorials of East Siberian Hunter]. St. Petersburg: Izdatel'stvo S.V. Zvonareva. 707 p. [in Russian].
• Chernyavskiy F.B. 1978. [The problem of zoning in land zoogeography and subdivision of Northeast Siberia on the basis of mammological data] // Kontrimavichus V.L. (ed.). [Fauna and zoogeography of mammals of the North-East Siberia]. Vladivostok: Izdatel'stvo Dalnevostochnogo Nauchnogo Tsentra Akademii Nauk SSSR. P.3-25 [in Russian].
• Darlington P.J., Jr. 1957. Zoogeography: the geographical distribution of animals. London: Chapman and Hall. 675 p.
• Elith J., Phillips S.J., Hastie T., Dudik M., Chee Y.E. & Yates C.J. 2011. A statistical explanation of MaxEnt for ecologists // Diversity and Distributions. Vol.17. No.1. P.43-57.
• Escalante T., Rodríguez-Tapia G., Szumik C., Morrone J.J. & Rivas M. 2010. Delimitation of the Nearctic region according to mammalian distributional patterns // Journal of Mammalogy. Vol.91. No.6. P.1381–1388.
• Ferrier S. & Guisan A. 2006. Spatial modelling of biodiversity at the community level // Journal of Applied Ecology. Vol.43. No.3. P.393-404.
• Fetisov A.S. 1944. [Rodents of South Transbaikalia] // Vestnik Irkutskogo Gosudarstvennogo Protivochumnogo Instituta Sibiri i Dalnego Vostoka. Vol.5. P.15-40 [in Russian].
• Galanin A.V., Belikovich A.V. & Royenko E.N. 2009. [Synopsis of dendroflora of Dahuria] // Bulleten' Botanicheskogo Sada Instituta Dalnevostochnogo Otdeleniya Rossiyskoy Akademii Nauk. No.3. P.4-32 [in Russian].
• Guillera-Arroita G., Lahoz-Monfort J.J., Elith J., Gordon A., Kujala H., Lentini P.E., McCarthy M.A., Tingley R. & Wintle B.A. 2015. Is my species distribution model fit for purpose? Matching data and models to applications: matching distribution models to applications // Global Ecology and Biogeography. Vol.24. No.3. P.276-292.
• Hagmeier E.M. 1966. A numerical analysis of the distributional patterns of North American mammals // Systematic Zoology. Vol.15. No.4. P.279-300.
• Hagmeier E.M. & Stults C.D. 1964. A numerical analysis of the distributional patterns of North American mammals // Systematic Zoology. Vol.13. No.3. P.125-155.
• Heikinheimo H., Fortelius M., Eronen J. & Mannila H. 2007. Biogeography of European land mammals shows environmentally distinct and spatially coherent clusters // Journal of Biogeography. Vol.34. No.6. P.1053-1064.
• Heptner V.G. 1936. [General zoogeography]. Moscow-Leningrad: Biomedgiz. 548 p. [in Russian].
• Hijmans R.J., Cameron S.E., Parra J.L., Jones P.G. & Jarvis A. 2005. Very high resolution interpolated climate surfaces for global land areas // International Journal of Climatology. Vol.25. No.15. P.1965-1978.
• Isachenko A.G. 1985. [Landscapes of USSR]. Leningrad: Izdatel'stvo LGU. 320 p. [in Russian].
• Jaccard P. 1901. Distribution de la flore alpine dans le Bassin des Dranses et dans quelques regions voisines // Bulletin de la Sociйtй vaudoise des sciences naturelles. Vol.37. P.241-272.
• Kaiser G.W., Lefkovitch L.P. & Howden H.F. 1972. Faunal provinces in Canada as exemplified by mammals and birds: a mathematical consideration // Canadian Journal of Zoology. Vol.50. No.8. P.1087-1104.
• Kimoto S. 1966. A methodological consideration of comparison of insect faunas based on the quantitative method // Esakia. Vol.5. P.1-20.
• Kucheruk V.V. 1959. [Steppe faunistic complex of mammals and its position in Palaearctic fauna] // Formozov A.N. (ed.). [Geography of Terrestrial Animal Populations and Methods of Their Study]. Moscow: Izdatel'stvo Akademii Nauk SSSR. P.45-87 [in Russian].
• Kulik I.L. 1972. [Taiga faunistic complex of mammals of Eurasia] // Bulleten' Moskovskogo Obshchestva Ispytatelei Prirody. Seriya Biologicheskaya. Vol.77. No.4. P.11-24 [in Russian].
• Kurentsov A.I. 1947. [About zoogeographical districts of Primorye Territory] // Komarovskiye chteniya. Vladivostok: Izdatel'stvo Dalnevostochnogo Nauchnogo Tsentra Akademii Nauk SSSR. P.5-35 [in Russian].
• Kuznetsov B.A. 1929. [Rodents of Eastern Transbaikalia] // Izvestiya Assotsiatsii Nauchno-Issledovatelskih Institutov pri Fiziko-Mathematicheskom Fakultete I MGU. Vol.2. No.1. P.59-106 [in Russian].
• Lissovsky A.A. & Obolenskaya E.V. 2015. A study of the distribution ranges of small mammals in Southeastern Transbaikalia using ecological niche-based modeling methods // Biology Bulletin Reviews. Vol.5. No.3. P.233-248.
• Lyamkin V.F. 2002. [Ecology and zoogeography of mammals of intermountain depressions of Baikal rift zone]. Irkutsk: Izdatel'stvo Instituta Geographii SO RAN. 116 p. [in Russian].
• Márquez A.L., Real R. & Vargas J.M. 2001. Methods for comparison of biotic regionalizations: the case of pteridophytes in the Iberian Peninsula // Ecography. Vol.24. No.6. P.659–670.
• Márquez A.L., Real R., Vargas J.M. & Salvo A. E. 1997. On identifying common distribution patterns and their causal factors: a probabilistic method applied to pteridophytes in the Iberian Peninsula // Journal of Biogeography. Vol.24. No.5. P.613–631.
• Matyushkin E.N. 1972. [Heterogeneity of theriofauna of Ussuri region: its general features, historical roots and contemporary manifestations in communities of the middle Sikhote-Alin] // Rossolimo L.L. & Dolgov V.A. (eds.). Trudy Zoologicheskogo Muzeya MGU. P.86-144 [in Russian].
• Matyushkin E.N., Smirnov E.N. & Sizova G.I. 1972. [Territorial communities of rodents of middle Sikhote-Alin] // Kucheruk V.V. (ed.). [Fauna and ecology of rodents]. P.116-148 [in Russian].
• Mikheev V.S. & Ryashin V.A. 1967. [Landscapes. Map 1:3500000] // Sochava V.B. (ed.). [Atlas of Transbaikalia (Buryatia and Chita Region)]. Moscow-Irkutsk: Izdatel'stvo GUGK. P.70-71 [in Russian].
• Nekipelov N.V. 1960. [Distribution of mammals in South-East Transbaikalia and quantity of some species] // Granin A.N. et al. (eds.). [Biological collection]. Irkutsk: Izdatel'stvo Vostochno-Sibirskogo Otdeleniya Geographicheskogo Obshchestva SSSR, Protivochumniy Institut Sibiri i Dalnego Vostoka. P.3-48 [in Russian].
• Neronov V.M. 1976. [Zoogeographical analysis of rodent fauna of Iran] // Bulleten' Moskovskogo Obshchestva Ispytatelei Prirody. Seriya Biologicheskaya. Vol.81. No.2. P.32-47 [in Russian].
• Neronov V.M. & Arsenyeva L.P. 1980. [Zoogeographical analysis of rodent fauna of Afghanistan] // Voronov A.G. & Drozdov N.N. (eds.). [Modern problems of zoogeography]. Moscow: Nauka. P.254-272 [in Russian].
• Newbold T. 2010. Applications and limitations of museum data for conservation and ecology, with particular attention to species distribution models // Progress in Physical Geography. Vol.34. No.1. P.3-22.
• Newbold T., Reader T., El-Gabbas A., Berg W., Shohdi W.M., Zalat S., El Din S.B. & Gilbert F. 2010. Testing the accuracy of species distribution models using species records from a new field survey // Oikos. Vol.119. No.8. P.1326-1334.
• Nobrega C.C. & Marco P.-D.J. 2011. Unprotecting the rare species: a niche-based gap analysis for odonates in a core Cerrado area // Diversity and Distributions. Vol.17. No.3. P.491-505.
• Obolenskaya E.V. 2010. [Zoogeographical features of the South-Eastern part of Transbaikal region] // Vestnik MGU. Ser.5. Geographiya. Vol.5. No.5. P.60-66 [in Russian, with English summary].
• Olivero J., Márquez A.L. & Real R. 2013. Integrating fuzzy logic and statistics to improve the reliable delimitation of biogeographic regions and transition zones // Systematic Biology. Vol.62. No.1. P.1–21.
• Olyunin V.N. 1975. [Mountains of southern Siberia Plains and mountains of Siberia] // Korzhuev S.S. (ed.). [Geomorphology of the USSR]. Moscow: Nauka. P.245-328 [in Russian].
• Pallas P.S. 1788. Travel to different provinces of the Russian Empire. Part 3. St. Petersburg: Press of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. 624 p.
• Peshkova G.A. 1985. [Vegetation of Siberia (Cisbaikalia and Transbaikalia)]. Novosibirsk: Nauka. 145 p. [in Russian].
• Phillips S.J., Anderson R.P. & Schapire R. 2006. Maximum entropy modelling of species geographic distributions // Ecological Modelling. Vol.190. No.3-4. P.231-259.
• Phillips S.J. & Dudik M. 2008. Modeling of species distributions with Maxent: new extensions and a comprehensive evaluation // Ecography. Vol.31. No.2. P.161-175.
• Puzachenko Y.G., Kuzmin S.L. & Sandlerskiy R.B. 2011. [Quantitative estimation of area parameters (with representatives of genus Rana as a case study)] // Zhurnal Obshchei Biologii. Vol.72. No.5. P.339-354 [in Russian, with English summary].
• Puzanov I.I. 1938. [Zoogeography]. Moscow: Gosizdat. 361 p. [in Russian].
• Radde G.I. 1861. [Travel to South-Eastern Siberia (1855-1859)] // Zapiski Imperatorskogo Russkogo Geographicheskogo Obschestva. Vol.4. P.1-78 [in Russian].
• Ravkin Y.S., Bogomolova I.N. & Nikolaeva O.N. 2013. The theriofaunistic zoning of northern Eurasia // Contemporary Problems of Ecology. Vol.6. No.1. P.85-93.
• Schmoldt A., Benthe H.F. & Haberland G. 1975. Digitoxin metabolism by rat liver microsomes // Biochemical Pharmacology. Vol.24. No.17. P.1639-1641.
• Sclater P.L. 1858. On the general geographical distribution of the members of the class Aves. (Continued) // Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London. Zoology. Vol.2. No.8. P.137-145.
• Semenov-Tyan-Shanskiy A.P. 1936. [Limits and zoogeographical division of the Palaearctic region for terrestrial animals on the basis of geographical distribution of Coleoptera]. Moscow-Leningrad: Izdatel'stvo Akademii Nauk SSSR. 16 p. [in Russian].
• Severtsov N.A. 1877. [On the zoological (mostly ornithological) areas of extratropical parts of our continent] // Proceedings of Russian Geographical Society. Vol.13. No.3. P.125-155 [in Russian].
• Shpolyanskaya N.A. 1978. [Permafrost of Transbaikalia]. Moscow: Nauka. 131 p. [in Russian].
• Shvetsov Y.G., Smirnov M.N. & Monakhov G.I. 1984. [Mammals of the Baikal Lake basin]. Novosibirsk: Nauka. 258 p. [in Russian].
• Simpson G.G. 1960. Notes on the measurement of faunal resemblance // American Journal of Science. Vol.258-A. P.300-311.
• Simpson G.G. 1964. Species density of North American recent mammals // Systematic Zoology. Vol.13. No.2. P.57-73.
• Skalon V.N. 1935. [New data on fauna of mammals and birds of Siberia and the Far Eastern Territory] // Vestnik Irkutskogo Gosudarstvennogo Protivochumnogo Instituta Sibiri i Dalnevostochnogo Kraya. Vol.2. P.42-64 [in Russian].
• Skulkin V.S. & Puzachenko Y.G. 1986. [Zoogeographical analysis of mammalian fauna of Mongolia using a computer] // Sokolov V.E. (ed.). [Zoogeographic zoning of MPR]. Moscow: VINITI. P.28-51 [in Russian].
• Sochava V.B. (Ed.). 1977. [Landscapes of the south of East Siberia. Map 1:1500000]. Moscow: Izdatel'stvo GUGK. [in Russian].
• StatSoft I. 2007. STATISTICA (data analysis software system) version 8.0. StatSoft, Inc., www. statsoft.com.
• Tahtadzhan A. 1986. Floristic Regions of the World. First English Language Edition ed. Berkley: University of California Press. 522 p.
• Trotta-Moreu N. & Lobo J.M. 2010. Deriving the species richness distribution of Geotrupinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) in Mexico from the overlap of individual model predictions // Environmental Entomology. Vol.39. No.1. P.42-49.
• Tupikova N.V. 1982. [Experience of zoogeographic zoning of Altai on the basis of fauna and animal population] // Sokolov V.E. (ed.). [Theoretical and applied aspects of biogeography]. Moscow: Nauka. P.81-99 [in Russian].
• Tupikova N.V. & Komarova L.V. 1979. [Principles and methods of zoological mapping]. Moscow: Izdatel'stvo MGU. 192 p. [in Russian].
• Udvardy M.D.F. 1975. A classification of the biogeographical provinces of the world // IUCN Occasional Paper. Vol.18. P.1-49.
• Varshavskiy A.A., Neronov V.M. & Chang I.-Z. 1997. [Zoogeographic zoning arid regions of China (data on the distribution of rodents)] // Zoologicheskii Zhurnal. Vol.76. No.4. P.473-486 [in Russian].
• Vosskresenskiy S.S. & Postolenko G.A. 1967. [The orographic scheme. Map 1:5000000] // Sochava V.B. (ed.). Atlas of Transbaikalia (Buryatia and Chita Region). Moscow-Irkutsk: Izdatel'stvo GUGK. P.12 [in Russian].
• Wallace A.R. 1876. The geographical distribution of animals with a study of the relations of living and extinct fauna as elucidating the past changes of the earth's surface. New York: Harper and Brothers. Vol.1. 503 p.
• Wiesmann U.N., DiDonato S. & Herschkowitz N.N. 1975. Effect of chloroquine on cultured fibroblasts: release of lysosomal hydrolases and inhibition of their uptake // Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. Vol.66. No.4. P.1338-1343.
• Wilson J.W. 1974. Analytical zoogeography of North American mammals // Evolution. Vol.28. P.124-140.
• Xiang Z.F., Liang X.C., Huo S. & Ma S.L. 2004. Quantitative analysis of land mammal zoogeographical regions in China and adjacent regions // Zoological Studies. Vol.43. No.1. P.142-160.
• Yudin B.S., Galkina L.I. & Potapkina A.F. 1979. [Mammals of Altai-Sayan Mountains]. Novosibirsk: Nauka. 296 p. [in Russian].