Assembly rules for functional groups of North American shrews: effects of geographic range and habitat partitioning

Abstract

We examined the representation of shrew species within assemblages at 197 sites in the southern Appalachian Mountains, USA. Assemblages were classified according to representation of functional groups, including fossorial, small epigeal, and large epigeal. Average (9?SD) species richness was 2.99?1.0 and assemblages averaged 0.8 species in the fossorial and large epigeal groups and 1.3 species in the small epigeal group. Compliance with Fox?s assembly rule was evaluated by dividing sites into those likely under the rule (favored) and those unlikely under the rule. The number of favored sites was compared to expected numbers of favored sites under three null models of community development, which variously incorporated observed characteristics of species in the regional pool. Number of favored sites (175 [89%]) exceeded the number found in each of 25,000 sets of assemblages simulated (P

Citation

McCay, Timothy S.; Lovallo, Matthew J.; Ford, W. Mark; Menzel, Michael A. 2004. Assembly rules for functional groups of North American shrews: effects of geographic range and habitat partitioning. OIKOS. 107: 141-147.