Continent-Wide Patterns in Mammal Community Structure: Diet, Locomotion, and Body Mass

Tropical vegetation categories in Africa, America and Asia can be differentiated by their mammal communi8 ties. We studied 163 localities assigned to Olson’s (1983) vegetation categories in five ecosystems. Non-volant species over 500 g were classified into locomotion, body mass, and two hierarchical dietary groups, and the resulting community structures were analyzed using NPMANOVA and SIMPER. Results show the community structures are significantly different between most of Olson’s vegetation categories in Africa and America. In Asia, the differences are not significant, although there are a limited number of vegetation categories in our Asian dataset. In Africa, both dietary variables are the best at differentiating the vegetation categories followed by locomotion. In America, diet 2 is the best variable followed by the others. Body mass was not a good discriminator in Africa, but is moderately good in America. Specific differences between the continents and reasons underlying these differences are discussed.