Influences of climate and historical land connectivity on ant beta diversity in East Asia

A primary driver of ant beta diversity in East Asia is climate, particularly temperature, which significantly influences faunal composition across geographical areas. The study also reveals that historical land connectivity during periods of low sea levels, such as the Last Glacial Maximum, plays a more substantial role in shaping regional-scale biogeographical patterns than current land contiguity. This suggests that overland dispersal via transient land bridges has been more influential than overwater dispersal in structuring ant communities in this region. The research integrated species occurrence records from multiple sources alongside climatic and bathymetric data to analyze Simpson composition dissimilarity using multiple regression of distance matrices, providing a comprehensive understanding of the factors governing ant diversity patterns.

Wepfer, P. H., Guénard, B., & Economo, E. P. (2016). Influences of climate and historical land connectivity on ant beta diversity in East Asia. Journal of Biogeography, 43(12), 2311–2321. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.12762