The global distribution of known and undiscovered ant biodiversity



Kass, Jamie M, Guenard, Benoit, Dudley, Kenneth L, Jenkins, Clinton N, Azuma, Fumika, Fisher, Brian L, Parr, Catherine L ORCID: 0000-0003-1627-763X, Gibb, Heloise, Longino, John T, Ward, Philip S
et al (show 19 more authors) (2022) The global distribution of known and undiscovered ant biodiversity. SCIENCE ADVANCES, 8 (31). eabp9908-.

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Abstract

Invertebrates constitute the majority of animal species and are critical for ecosystem functioning and services. Nonetheless, global invertebrate biodiversity patterns and their congruences with vertebrates remain largely unknown. We resolve the first high-resolution (~20-km) global diversity map for a major invertebrate clade, ants, using biodiversity informatics, range modeling, and machine learning to synthesize existing knowledge and predict the distribution of undiscovered diversity. We find that ants and different vertebrate groups have distinct features in their patterns of richness and rarity, underscoring the need to consider a diversity of taxa in conservation. However, despite their phylogenetic and physiological divergence, ant distributions are not highly anomalous relative to variation among vertebrate clades. Furthermore, our models predict that rarity centers largely overlap (78%), suggesting that general forces shape endemism patterns across taxa. This raises confidence that conservation of areas important for small-ranged vertebrates will benefit invertebrates while providing a "treasure map" to guide future discovery.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Animals, Vertebrates, Invertebrates, Ants, Ecosystem, Biodiversity, Phylogeny
Divisions: Faculty of Science and Engineering > School of Environmental Sciences
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 23 Jun 2022 10:37
Last Modified: 18 Jan 2023 20:57
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abp9908
Open Access URL: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abp9908
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3157039