Climatic and geographic barriers drive distributional patterns of bird phenotypes within peninsular India

Ramachandran, Vivek; Robin, V. V.; Tamma, Krishnapriya; Ramakrishnan, Uma

doi:10.1111/jav.01278

Cited by 13 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 81 publications

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“…~6 Ka) seems to be very prominent for several taxa (Jansson, 2003;Ramachandran, Robin, Tamma, & Ramakrishnan, 2017). Here, both the LIG and LGM periods represent periods of extreme climatic conditions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…Jansson () proposed that Milankovitch cycles during the Quaternary are responsible for current global geographical patterns of endemic species. The effect of the Last Interglacial (LIG: ~120 –140 Ka), Last Glacial Maximum (LGM: ~18–22 Ka), and Mid‐Holocene (MDH: ~6 Ka) seems to be very prominent for several taxa (Jansson, ; Ramachandran, Robin, Tamma, & Ramakrishnan, ). Here, both the LIG and LGM periods represent periods of extreme climatic conditions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Birds are among the most widely studied taxa with respect to climate change effects. Studies have shown a drastic negative impact of climate change on bird distributions (Hilbert, Bradford, Parker, & Westcott, 2004;Ramachandran et al, 2017;Smith, Gregory, Anderson, & Thomas, 2013) and demography (Howard et al, 2018;Tomotani et al, 2018;Zhao et al, 2012), in many cases compromising their persistence (Crick, 2004;Urban, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Quaternary climatic fluctuations and resulting climatically suitable areas for Eurasian owlets

Koparde

Mehta

Mukherjee

et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

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Aim The nested pattern in the geographical distribution of three Indian owlets, resulting in a gradient of endemicity, is hypothesized to be an impact of historical climate change. In current time, the Forest Owlet Athene blewitti is endemic to central India, and its range is encompassed within the ranges of the Jungle Owlet Glaucidium radiatum (distributed through South Asia) and Spotted Owlet Athene brama (distributed through Iran, South and Southeast Asia). Another phylogenetically close species, Little Owl Athene noctua, which is largely Palearctic in distribution, is hypothesized to have undergone severe range reduction during the Last Glacial Maximum, showing a postglacial expansion. The present study tests hypotheses on the possible role of Quaternary climatic fluctuations in shaping geographical ranges of owlets. Methods We used primary field observations, open access data, and climatic niche modeling to construct climatic niches of four owlets for four periods, the Last Interglacial (~120–140 Ka), Last Glacial Maximum (~22 Ka), Mid‐Holocene (~6 Ka), and Current (1960–1990). We performed climatic niche extent, breadth, and overlap analyses and tested if climatically suitable areas for owlets are nested in a relatively stable climate. Results Climatically suitable areas for all owlets examined underwent cycles of expansion and reduction or a gradual expansion or reduction since the Last Interglacial. The Indian owlets show significant climatic niche overlap in the current period. Climatically suitable areas for Little Owl shifted southwards during the Last Glacial Maximum and expanded northwards in the postglaciation period. For each owlet, the modeled climatic niches were nested in climatically stable areas. Main Conclusions The study highlights the impact of Quaternary climate change in shaping the present distribution of owlets. This is relevant to the current scenario of climate change and global warming and can help inform conservation strategies, especially for the extremely range‐restricted Forest Owlet.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Quaternary climatic fluctuations and resulting climatically suitable areas for Eurasian owlets

Koparde

Mehta

Mukherjee

et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

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“…Gunawardene et al, 2007;Robin et al, 2010;Vijayakumar et al, 2016). From north to south, the Goa Gap, Cauvery valley, and the Palghat and Shenkottah Gaps also form distinctive biogeographic zones (Purushotham and Robin, 2016;Ramachandran et al, 2017;Robin et al, 2010). These zones roughly correspond with latitudinal gradients in humidity, rainfall seasonality, and elevation (Bose et al, 2015).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 98%

Environmental influences on acoustic divergence inRhinolophusbats of the Western Ghats-Sri Lanka region

Deshpande

Kelkar

2019

Preprint

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According to the acoustic adaptation hypothesis, environmental and biogeographic factors such as atmospheric humidity can influence divergence of acoustic signals and speciation in high duty-cycle echolocating bats (e.g. Rhinolophus sp.), although this remains disputed. In this study we tested the hypothesis that Resting Frequency (RF) would decrease with increasing humidity along a large latitudinal gradient (6°-21° N), for four Rhinolophus species with different evolutionary histories, in the Western Ghats-Sri Lanka (WGSL) region.We conducted acoustic recordings and compiled published information on RFs of stationary Rhinolophus indorouxi, R. rouxi, R. beddomei, and R. lepidus from 40 roosts in 18 localities of the WGSL. These data comprised of recordings made with different devices and with different settings. Hence, due to the unknown measurement error involved in the recorded RFs, it was not possible to conduct conventional regression analyses to test our hypotheses.Hence, we qualitatively assessed effects of Relative Humidity (RH) and other environmental variables by interpreting only the sign, but not the magnitude of the RF responses (from the slopes of generalized least squares regression models). We also tested how RF and RH varied across biogeographic zones, and with bat body size. RFs of the Miocene-diverged species R.indorouxi and R. rouxi were higher at lower RH, as expected. In contrast, RF of the Pleistocene-diverged species R. beddomei and R. lepidus were higher at higher RH. Elevation and rainfall also emerged as important predictors of RF variation in these species. Bat body 2 size differed in dry and humid regions of the WGSL. RF variation was not consistent across biogeographic zones. The cryptic, phonically differentiated sibling species R. indorouxi and R. rouxi co-occurred only in mid-elevation zones along the Western Ghats escarpment. The variable but significant influences of humidity and correlated factors on RF suggest the importance of environmentally mediated acoustic divergence in different Rhinolophus species in the WGSL. We propose some hypotheses on interacting effects of environmental and phylogenetic factors on acoustic divergence in Rhinolophus bats of the WGSL. These ideas could be further tested with phylogenetic and acoustic studies, as more consistent and comparable data on these species become available in the future.

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“…Many vertebrate lineages such as frogs of the genera Indirana , Nyctibatrachus , Raorchestes , numerous birds and agamids of the genus Monilesaurus have colonized the regions north of the Goa gap (Van Bocxlaer et al, 2012; Dahanukar et al, 2016; Pal et al, 2018; Ramachandran et al, 2017). However, others with seemingly better dispersal abilities such as the King cobra, Ophiophagus hannah (Cantor, 1836) and the hump‐nosed pit viper, Hypnale hypnale (Merrem, 1820) reach the gap from the south but are conspicuously absent from north of it (Maduwage et al, 2009; Yadav & Yanakanchi, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can’t see the wood for the trees? Canopy physiognomy influences the distribution of peninsular Indian flying lizards

Chaitanya

Meiri

2021

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim In the absence of topographic barriers to dispersal, spatial boundaries of species are largely governed by the environmental regimes they occupy. Flying lizards (Agamidae: Draco) from peninsular India have surmounted prominent geographic barriers, but their northern distribution abruptly ends at the ‘Goa gap’, a latitudinal boundary separating the wet and dry regions of the Western Ghats. Given their exclusively arboreal habits, we posit that canopy physiognomy determines Draco distribution in regions of climatic suitability. Location Peninsular India. Taxa Draco dussumieri, Monilesaurus rouxii. Methods We analysed occurrence data collated from multiple sources against a suite of climatic and canopy‐specific predictors to model the occurrence of Draco. We used an information theoretic approach to binary logistic regression that incorporates presence/absence data, along with a maximum entropy‐based algorithm that models ecological niches in space using presence‐only data. Climatic data were obtained from CHELSA and WorldClim. We compared models for Draco dussumieri with the only other largely sympatric, arboreal agamid, Monilesaurus rouxii, which spans the Goa gap. Finally, we statistically tested how regions Draco inhabits differ in canopy physiognomy from the regions in the Western Ghats where it does not occur. Results Canopy height was the most influential predictor of Draco presence in regions of climatic suitability under both the logistic regression and maximum entropy models. While climatically suitable regions occur north of the Goa gap, these regions harbour significantly lower canopies with lesser coverage. Despite a narrower range of climatic suitability, Monilesaurus has spanned the Goa gap, presumably because it is less dependent on canopy traits. Main conclusions Lower canopies with lesser coverage act as a biogeographic barrier for the dispersal of Draco into regions of climatic suitability. In addition to being a climatic boundary, the Goa gap serves as a vegetational barrier that demarcates regions with significantly dissimilar canopy physiognomies. Our study highlights the importance of quantifying environmental regimes that organisms occupy to better understand distribution patterns. Our results implicitly predict the effects of deforestation on Draco distribution in the peninsula and therefore, influence its conservation strategy.

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Climatic and geographic barriers drive distributional patterns of bird phenotypes within peninsular India

Cited by 13 publications

References 81 publications

Quaternary climatic fluctuations and resulting climatically suitable areas for Eurasian owlets

Quaternary climatic fluctuations and resulting climatically suitable areas for Eurasian owlets

Environmental influences on acoustic divergence inRhinolophusbats of the Western Ghats-Sri Lanka region

Can’t see the wood for the trees? Canopy physiognomy influences the distribution of peninsular Indian flying lizards

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