Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Swiss Institute for Dryland Environmental and Energy Research, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, 8499000 Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel
Irina S. Khokhlova
French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, 8499000 Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel
M. Fernanda López Berrizbeitia
Programa de Conservación de los Murciélagos de Argentina (PCMA) and Instituto de Investigaciones de Biodiversidad Argentina (PIDBA)-CCT CONICET Noa Sur (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas), Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e IML, UNT, and Fundación Miguel Lillo, Miguel Lillo 251, 4000 San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina
Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia del Noroeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires – CITNOBA (CONICET-UNNOBA), Ruta Provincial 32 Km 3.5, 2700 Pergamino, Argentina
Georgy I. Shenbrot
Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Swiss Institute for Dryland Environmental and Energy Research, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, 8499000 Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel
Luther van der Mescht
Clinvet International (Pty) Ltd, Universitas, Uitsig Road, Bloemfontein 9338, South Africa Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of the Free State, 205 Nelson Mandela Dr, Park West, Bloemfontein 9301, South Africa.
We studied the relationships between functional alpha and beta diversities of fleas and their small mammalian hosts in 4 biogeographic realms (the Afrotropics, the Nearctic, the Neotropics and the Palearctic), considering 3 components of alpha diversity (functional richness, divergence and regularity). We asked whether (a) flea alpha and beta diversities are driven by host alpha and beta diversities; (b) the variation in the off-host environment affects variation in flea alpha and beta diversities; and (c) the pattern of the relationship between flea and host alpha or beta diversities differs between geographic realms. We analysed alpha diversity using modified phylogenetic generalized least squares and beta diversity using modified phylogenetic generalized dissimilarity modelling. In all realms, flea functional richness and regularity increased with an increase in host functional richness and regularity, respectively, whereas flea functional divergence correlated positively with host functional divergence in the Nearctic only. Environmental effects on the components of flea alpha diversity were found only in the Holarctic realms. Host functional beta diversity was invariantly the best predictor of flea functional beta diversity in all realms, whereas the effects of environmental variables on flea functional beta diversity were much weaker and differed between realms. We conclude that flea functional diversity is mostly driven by host functional diversity, whereas the environmental effects on flea functional diversity vary (a) geographically and (b) between components of functional alpha diversity.
