Biomedical subjects

J A Diniz-Filho

Publications and source records attributed to J A Diniz-Filho.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

Anurans from a local assemblage in central Brazil: linking local processes with macroecological patterns.

Macroecological variables of Anuran species found in a local assemblage from Central Brazil (Silvânia, Goiás State) were linked to population dyamics statistics of these species. Geographical range size (GRS), body size, and species' midpoints were the macroecological variables investigated for those species found in the local assemblage and for all other species (105 in the total) found in the Cerrado biome. For each species found in the local assemblage, data on abundance was obtained. Using this data, local population variability as expressed by the coefficient of variation was estimated. Distribution of means, medians, maximum, variances, and skewness (g1), for both GRS and body size, estimated in the local assemblage were compared, using null models, with the data extracted from the overall Cerrado species pool. The results indicated a clear macroecological relationship between GRS and body size and a decrease in local abundance when distance between the locality analyzed and species midpoint increased. According to null models, both body size and GRS values measured in the local assemblage can be considered a random sample from the regional species pool (Cerrado region). Finally, a three-dimensional analysis using body size, GRS, and local population estimates (abundance and variability), indicated that less abundant and more fluctuating species fell near the lower boundary of the polygonal relationship between GRS and body size. Thus, macroecological results linked with local data on population dynamics supported the minimum viable population model.

Animals↗

PubMed2001

Phylogenetic autocorrelation under distinct evolutionary processes.

I show how phylogenetic correlograms track distinct microevolutionary processes and can be used as empirical descriptors of the relationship between interspecific covariance (V(B)) and time since divergence (t). Data were simulated under models of gradual and speciational change, using increasing levels of stabilizing selection in a stochastic Ornstein-Uhlenbeck (O-U) process, on a phylogeny of 42 species. For each simulated dataset, correlograms were constructed using Moran's I coefficients estimated at five time slices, established at constant intervals. The correlograms generated under different evolutionary models differ significantly according to F-values derived from analysis of variance comparing Moran's I at each time slice and based on Wilks' lambda from multivariate analysis of variance comparing their overall profiles in a two-way design. Under Brownian motion or with small restraining forces in the O-U process, correlograms were better fit by a linear model. However, increasing restraining forces in the O-U process cause a lack of linear fit, and correlograms are better described by exponential models. These patterns are better fit for gradual than for speciational modes of change. Correlograms can be used as a diagnostic method and to describe the V(B)/t relationship before using methods to analyze correlated evolution that assume (or perform statistically better when) this relationship is linear.

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMed2001

Is the relationship between population density and body size consistent across independent studies? A meta-analytical approach.

The Energetic Equivalence Rule (EER) is a controversial issue in ecology. This rule states that the amount of energy that each species uses per unit of area is independent of its body size. Here, we perform a meta-analytical procedure to combine and compare the slopes of population density and body size relationships across independent studies of mammals and birds. We then compared a distribution of 50,000 bootstrap combined slopes with the expected slope (b = -0.75) under the EER. The combined slopes obtained for mammals and birds separately were -0.755 and -0.321, respectively. The homogeneity hypothesis (i. e. within studies the slopes differ by no more than would be expected due sampling variation) was rejected in both cases. So, EER cannot be supported since the use of an exponent of -0.75 is, in fact, an oversimplification. Significant heterogeneity of slopes within each group (mammals and birds) is an indicator of inferential problems related with variation in body size, spatial scale, the regression model adopted and phylogenetic relationships among species. So, we consider that questions regarding the estimation and validity of slopes is the next challenge of density-body size relationship studies.

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMed1999

Phylogeographical autocorrelation of phenotypic evolution in honey bees (Apis mellifera L.).

The analysis of phenotypic divergence among local populations within a species has been traditionally performed in a spatial context, although advances in genetic analysis using mtDNA have permitted a simultaneous evaluation of geographical and historical patterns of variation, so-called phylogeographical analysis. In this paper, we combine these two dimensions of variation (geographical space and phylogenetic history) to evaluate patterns of phenotypic evolution in honey bees (Apis mellifera L.). Data on 39 phenotypic traits, derived from 417 colonies grouped into 14 subspecies, were analysed using autocorrelation methods. Mantel tests indicated that the relationship between phenotypic divergence, estimated by Euclidean distances among subspecies' morphological centroids, was significant both when compared to geographical distance (r=0.371; P < 0.01) and to genetic distance (estimated as sequence divergence (%) in a mtDNA region encompassing part of the NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 and isoleucine transfer RNA (r=0.329; P < 0.01)). For the analysis of each trait, the effects of the geographical co-ordinates (latitude and longitude of subspecies geographical range) and of the phylogenetic patterns (defined by eigenvectors of the genetic distance matrix) on phenotypic variation were simultaneously analysed using an extension of a recently developed model, called Phylogenetic Eigenvector Regression (PVR). In general terms, the partial regression slopes indicated that the variation in the characters traditionally associated with adaptive processes, such as body and wing size, were better explained by geographical position. However, characters usually thought to be neutral, such as wing venation angle, were more associated with phylogeny. This is expected because PVR can be interpreted as a partition model, in which adaptive variation tends to be independent of phylogeny (and, in this case, associated with geography). In addition, the first principal component derived from the expected values of the model for each trait, which can be interpreted as the phenotypic variation predicted by phylogeny, is more structured in a north-south cline than are the original data, supporting an adaptive interpretation. The phylogeographical autocorrelation analyses performed in this study show that different traits are more related to one of the two dimensions of variation (geography and phylogeny), and these patterns can furnish insights into the nature of phenotypic evolution in these organisms.

Animals↗

PubMed1998

Spatial patterns and the macroecology of South American viperid snakes.

The macroecological relationship between geographic range size and body size has been described recently as an envelope region defined in bivariate space and limited by ecological and physical constraints. These constraints can be explained by selective processes acting at different levels and theories for an optimal body size. However, since data are obtained for different species in a large taxonomic group, at continental scales, it is possible that these variables may be strongly affected by spatial and phylogenetic autocorrelations. In this paper, we analyzed data on geographic range size (GRS) and body size (BS) for 36 species of Viperid snakes from South America, searching for spatial trends that could affect the shape of the macroecological constraint space. Data were analyzed using spatial autocorrelation and trend surface analyses, detecting a significant spatial pattern for GRS, fitted by a quadratic trend (R2 = 0.665; P < 0.001). After removing this effect, the relationship between trend residuals for GRS and BS still forms a constraint space, in such a way that results for South American Viperid snakes support both the shape of constraint space previously observed in other taxonomic groups and the ecological and evolutionary processes developed to explain it.

Animals↗