BIOL10010 Group Report

Team name: Thurs-PM-Quokka

Student name ID number Contribution (%)

1. Nawazish Khan 1617007 25%

2. Clarissa Augoustakis 1617011 25%

3. Reyah Stirrup 1617044 25%

4. Dominic Packham 1617156 25%

5.

6.

Total word count: 995 words

Introduction

Previous studies have demonstrated a general trend between latitude and animal diversity
across a wide range of taxa, due to several factors such as available environmental energy,
precipitation, temperature and altitude (Coelho et al., 2023; Gaston, 2000). Favourable
conditions are most present near the equator and allow these places to support a larger variety
of species, and decrease as latitude increases (Moreno & Pipes, 2023). For mammals
specifically, it is found that factors such as water availability and temperature have the biggest
influence on species richness in Australasia (Raz et al., 2023).

This study aims to explore the spatial patterns of mammal diversity within ecological
communities across a latitudinal gradient for Australia’s East Coast. Mammal diversity will be
evaluated using species richness and Shannon-Wiener Index (Wilson & Gownaris, 2022). It is
hypothesised that an increase in latitude (°South) should decrease both species richness and
Shannon-Wiener Index due to the declining temperature. As mammals are endotherms, higher
temperatures allow them to focus their metabolic energy on growth and reproduction rather than
spending this energy on maintaining body temperature (Hawkins et al., 2003). It is expected that
water availability across a latitudinal gradient should have minimal effect due to coastal
proximity and ensuring sampling sites receive >800 mm rainfall per annum.

Method

The collection of the data used was obtained using the Atlas of Living Australia, which is
Australia's national biodiversity database that brings together biodiversity data from multiple
sources to make it accessible online (Atlas of Living Australia, 2024). The use of secondary data
was motivated by efficiency and cost, as determining species richness directly would prove
unviable.

Their ‘spatial search function’ in the ‘search and download records’ tool was used to pinpoint a
circular area (10 km radius) along Australia’s East Coast which received more than 800 mm
rainfall per annum and corresponded to a certain latitude.

Using the ‘lifeform’ select feature to specify the mammal taxon, mammal data was then
downloaded and used to calculate the species richness and Shannon-Wiener Index. The
Shannon-Wiener Index was also calculated because species ‘richness alone does not account
for evenness across species’ (Wilson & Gownaris, 2022).

This was then repeated for each degree of latitude along the East Coast of Australia.

Regression analysis was then performed to determine whether there was a significant
relationship between latitude across Australia’s East Coast and species richness/Shannon-
Wiener Index.

Results
Regression analysis showed that mammal species richness significantly increased with latitude
down Australia's East Coast at 2.109 ± 0.387 species per degree, F(1, 27) = 29.7725, allowing
us to reject a null hypothesis (p = 0.0000086 < 0.05). Latitude accounted for 52.4% of the
variation in species richness (R^2 = 0.524). However, mammal Shannon-Wiener Index was not
significantly affected by latitude, F(1,27) = 4.0972, confirming a null hypothesis (p = 0.052952 >
0.05) = Latitude accounts for only 13.2% of variation in the Shannon-Wiener Index (R^2 =
0.132) (Fig 1).

(Figure 1: Scatter plot representing the effect of latitude (°South) on Shannon-Wiener Index and species
richness of mammals across Australia's East Coast. It was found that increased latitude corresponded to
an increase in mammal species richness [f(1,27) = 29.7725], allowing us to reject a null hypothesis (p =
0.0000086 < 0.05). It was also found that increased latitude had no significant effect upon the Shannon-
Wiener Index of mammals [f(1,27) = 4.0972], confirming a null hypothesis (p = 0.052952 > 0.05). This
was represented using linear trend lines for both metrics. Data was acquired through the Atlas of Living
Australia, with data points representing sampling sizes of a 10 km radius corresponding to latitude values,
in coastal areas which receive more than 800 mm rainfall per annum. Regression analysis was conducted
using Microsoft excel.)

Discussion
This study aimed to investigate the effect of latitude on mammal biodiversity across Australia's
East coast. The hypothesis was rejected, as the results showed an increase in latitude (°South)
increased mammal species richness, but had no significant effect upon the Shannon-Wiener
Index. This suggests latitude had minimal effect upon species evenness, explaining the trend in
Shannon-Wiener Index despite increasing species richness.

These findings differ from the previous literature (Jetz & Fine, 2012; Raz et al., 2023) which
suggests that mammal species richness is inversely proportional to latitude.
Difference in such findings could be due to factors such as climate, resource availability and
wilderness sizes being more favourable to mammalian species at lower latitudes on the east
coast of Australia.

Furthermore, other studies (Raz et al, 2023) have found a positive correlation between latitude
and mammal species richness as well, and this can be explained by lower temperatures.
Mammals, being endotherms, are better able to survive lower temperatures than ectothermic
species, and hence will experience less competition for resources from ectotherms as latitude
increases along the East Coast of Australia. This is because species like reptiles and
amphibians reduce in species richness as latitude increases (Raz et al, 2023).

The study aims to maintain validity when sampling data, by only selecting areas which receive a
minimum of 800 mm of rainfall per annum. This ensures that significant water scarcity does not
affect the results as an external variable. However rainfall still varies between the selected
sampling locations, and the study does not take into account the effect of waterways in
sampling locations, as these can significantly increase both species richness and Shannon-
Wiener Index in some situations. Furthermore, using smaller and more frequent sample areas
will yield more continuous data.

Conclusion

In conclusion, an increase in latitude (°South) across Australia’s East Coast increased mammal
species richness, but had no significant effect upon mammal Shannon-Wiener index. This
highlights the importance of regional analyses in investigating biodiversity rather than applying
general global trends. Further areas of study could include comparing mammal diversity trends
with other taxa to understand the interaction between different species, and isolating specific
factors like temperature and water availability rather than just latitude, and analysing their effect
on mammal diversity.

References
Atlas of Living Australia. (2024). Atlas of living Australia. Atlas of Living Australia.

https://www.ala.org.au/

Coelho, M. T. P., Barreto, E., Rangel, T. F., Diniz-Filho, J. A. F., Wüest, R. O., Bach, W., Skeels,

A., McFadden, I. R., Roberts, D. W., Pellissier, L., Zimmermann, N. E., & Graham, C. H. (2023).

The geography of climate and the global patterns of species diversity. Nature, 622, 537–544.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06577-5

Gaston, K. J. (2000). Global patterns in biodiversity. Nature, 405(6783), 220–227.

https://doi.org/10.1038/35012228

Hawkins, B. A., Field, R., Cornell, H. V., Currie, D. J., Guégan, J.-F., Kaufman, D. M., Kerr, J. T.,

Mittelbach, G. G., Oberdorff, T., O’Brien, E. M., Porter, E. E., & Turner, J. R. G. (2003). Energy,

water, and broad-scale geographic patterns of species richness. Ecology, 84(12), 3105–3117.

https://doi.org/10.1890/03-8006

Jetz, W., & Fine, P. V. A. (2012). Global gradients in vertebrate diversity predicted by historical

area-productivity dynamics and contemporary environment. PLoS Biology, 10(3), e1001292.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1001292

Moreno, P. J. G., & Pipes, B. L. (2023). Encyclopedia of biodiversity (Third edition, Vol. 1).

Academic Press.

Raz, T., Allison, A., Luciano Javier Ávila, Bauer, A. M., Böhm, M., Henrique, G., Guarino Rinaldi

Colli, Doan, T. M., Doughty, P., Grismer, L., Yuval Itescu, Kraus, F., Marcio Roberto Martins,

Morando, M., Murali, G., Nagy, Z. T., Cristiano, Novosolov, M., Oliver, P. M., & Homem, G.

(2023). Diversity gradients of terrestrial vertebrates – substantial variations about a common

theme. Journal of Zoology, 322(2). https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.13130

Wilson, A., & Gownaris, N. (2022). 22.2: Diversity indices. Biology LibreTexts.

https://bio.libretexts.org/Courses/Gettysburg_College/01%3A_Ecology_for_All/

22%3A_Biodiversity/22.02%3A_Diversity_Indices