Global Drivers of Echolocating Mammal Species Richness

Abstract

Echolocation provides a non-visual perception modality. The extensive diversity of echolocating mammal species is widely distributed across most global regions and latitudes, yet the factors determining their distribution remain unclear. Using Bayesian inference and dimensionality reduction analysis, here we established that mean annual temperature was the most important factor driving the richness of terrestrial echolocating mammal species, while net primary productivity drove non-echolocating mammal species richness. In contrast, in aquatic habitats, species richness for both echolocating and non-echolocating mammals was determined by mean annual sea surface temperature but, interestingly, operated in opposing directions. Further analysis revealed that the species richness pattern for all echolocating mammals was strongly affected by climatic isolation. While global species richness drivers were broadly consistent with biogeographical regions, there were also several regional exceptions. Our findings have important applications for targeting the conservation of echolocators subject to human-induced rapid environmental change.