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Spatial congruence of ecological transition at the regional scale in South Africa by Berndt J. Van Rensburg; Patricia Koleff; Kevin J. Gaston; Steven L. Chown is a Environmental Science article available to read on EtoBox.

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## Abstract **Aim** To determine whether patterns of avian species turnover reflect either biome or climate transitions at a regional scale, and whether anthropogenic landscape transformation affects those patterns. **Location** South Africa and Lesotho. **Methods** Biome and land transformation data were used to identify sets of transition areas, and avian species occurrence data were used to measure species turnover rates (__β__‐diversity). Spatial congruence between areas of biome transition, areas of high vegetation heterogeneity, high climatic heterogeneity, and high __β__‐diversity was assessed using random draw techniques. Spatial overlap in anthropogenically transformed areas, areas of high climatic heterogeneity and high __β__‐diversity areas was also assessed. **Results** Biome transition areas had greater vegetation heterogeneity, climatic heterogeneity, and __β__‐diversity than expected by chance. For the land transformation transition areas, this was only true for land transformation heterogeneity values and for one of the __β__‐diversity measures. Avian presence/absence data clearly separated the biome types but not the land transformation types. **Main conclusions**

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Author

Berndt J. Van Rensburg; Patricia Koleff; Kevin J. Gaston; Steven L. Chown

Publisher

John Wiley and Sons; Wiley (Blackwell Publishing); Blackwell Publishing Inc.; Wiley; JSTOR (ISSN 0305-0270)

Published

2004

Language

EN

Field

Environmental Science (Physical Sciences)