DOI: 10.5061/dryad.6wwpzgn0m
title: Functional niche constraints on carnivore assemblages (mammalia: carnivora) in the Americas: What facilitates coexistence through space and time?

description: Aim: Mammalian carnivores are among the best studied groups in terms of
 evolutionary history. However, the effects of species interactions in
 shaping community assemblages remain poorly understood. We hypothesize
 that indirect interactions via ecological trait filtering play a key role
 in structuring carnivoran assemblages, mediate coexistence, and thus
 should show high functional diversity in space and time at continental
 scales. Location: Americas. Taxon: Mammalian carnivores (Mammalia:
 Carnivora). Methods: We followed a macroecological perspective via
 ecological networks analyses for indirect interactions, and assessed the
 underlying functional diversity (FD) across space and from the Last
 Interglacial to the present in the Americas. We analyzed the potential
 distributions and six ecological traits of 88 species to establish
 possible mechanisms that enables species to coexist and the underlying
 diversity patterns. We compared the empirical results with two null
 models, and two sensitivity analyses. Results: Co-occurring carnivore
 species presented ecological segregation driven mainly by a size ratio (S
 R) relationship, called here the body-size spatial anti-clustering effect.
 The underlying FD patterns showed low redundancy towards the tropics and
 the poles during the times evaluated. However, during the LGM, shifts
 occurred primarily at high latitudes in North America. This shift affected
 the S R relationship and therefore changed functional diversity patterns.
 These local-to-continental interactions mediated by the S R are
 significant from an ecological and biogeographic perspective, suggesting a
 robust and consistent trend in which carnivore species of similar size
 have a lower probability of occupying the same area unless they
 differentiate in other ecological trait spaces. Main conclusions: The S R
 relationship is potentially a primary mechanism limiting carnivore
 coexistence, reflecting functional filtering. The S R tends to be
 conservative across different ecological trait groups and through time and
 space. We propose that the body-size spatial anti-clustering effect can
 directly measure species' coexistence and mediate FD patterns in the
 Americas.
description: The species-space matrix
 (i.e, binary matrix, 0/absence, and 1/present) for each of the three time
 periods considered in this study (i.e., Data__Current_space.csv,
 Data__LGM_space.csv, and Data__LIG_space.csv). The first column of each
 database represents each spatial unit, and the first row represents the
 species. For the species' point-occurrence data matrix (i.e.,
 Data_localities.csv), the first column represents the species, and the
 first row indicates the spatial unit. Ecological
 characteristics and codification used in the Data_Traits. csv for
 assessing carnivore assemblages. Trait codification in the database was
 present (1), absent (0). <b>Body mass
 (Bm)</b>: this ecological trait provides considerable information
 about the ecology and life history of species and has proven informative
 for most of the fundamental characteristics of an organism in terms of
 adaptation to their environment and interaction with other species. The
 variability in body mass is a good predictor of the ecological niche of
 species, therefore is considered a proxy of functional diversity due to
 its relationship with ecosystem functioning. <b>Female mass (Fm);
 male mass (Mm); minimum mass (Minm); maximum mass
 (Maxm)</b> <b>Locomotor
 behavior (LB):</b><b> </b>this ecological trait provides
 information about the locomotive adaptations to different substrate,
 indicating a relationship between the species and their environment. This
 is important because it reflects details of their feeding strategy.
 Likewise, this trait could reveal much more about carnivore species
 history life, preferred habitat, foraging behavior, and escape strategy.
 One species may have one or more locomotor behavior, <b>Aquatic
 (Ac); Terrestrial (T); Arboricolal (Ar); Scansorial (Sc); Fossorial (F).
 </b> <b>Social
 organization (SO):</b> this ecological trait represents the mean
 number of individuals of the species present during most of the year
 outside of the breeding season. Group size is considered as an
 anti-predator response, since larger groups reduce the risk of predation
 per capita, by increasing collective vigilance and predator detection, or
 by collective defense. <b>Groups (G); Solitary (S);</b>
 <b>Group size (GS). </b> <b>Activity
 pattern (AP)</b>: this ecological trait represents the active period
 where the species is most active during a 24 h cycle. The active period is
 related to resource use and is influenced by physiological constraints.
 <b>Diurnal (D), Nocturnal (N); Catameral (C)</b>.
 <b>Trophic
 realm (TR):</b> this trait represents the main indicator of
 resources used and covers several dietary attributes that reflect
 amplitude of species diet. <b>carnivore</b> <b>(TrC);
 herbivores (TrHe); Omnivores (TrOm). </b> <b>Trophic
 guild (TG)</b>: this ecological trait represents the main feeding
 specialization of the carnivoran species. It describes the different
 feeding types and allows to distinguish species more precisely.<b>
 Carnivore big (TgCb); carnivore medium (TgCm); carnivore small (TgCs);
 carrion (Car); piscivores (TgPis); invertebrates (TgIn); frugivores (TgF).
 </b> <b>Continental presence (CP): North America (NA); South America (SA); Central America (CA).</b> <b>Period (P): Last Glacial Maximum (LGM); Last Interglacial (LIG); Current (C)</b>