Assembly rules in muscid fly assemblages in the grasslands biome of Southern Brazil

Abstract

The distribution of muscid species (Diptera) in grasslands fragments of southern Brazil was assessed using null models according to three assembly rules: (a) negatively-associated distributions; (b) guild proportionality; and (c) constant body-size ratios. We built presence/absence matrices and calculated the C-score index to test negatively-associated distributions and guild proportionality based on the following algorithms: total number of fixed lines (FL), total number of fixed columns (FC), and the effect of the average size of the populations along lines (W) for 5000 randomizations. We used null models to generate random communities that were not structured by competition and evaluated the patterns generated using three models: general, trophic guilds, and taxonomic guilds. All three assembly rules were tested in each model. The null hypothesis was corroborated in all FL X FC co-occurrence analyses. In addition, 11 analyses of the models using the W algorithm showed the same pattern observed previously. Three analyses using the W algorithm indicated that species cooccurred more frequently than expected by chance. According to analyses of co-occurrence and guild proportionality, the coexistence of muscid species is not regulated by constant body size ratios. In flies of the grasslands, no rule was identified. Yet, a consensus did emerge from our analyses: species co-occur more frequently than expected by chance, indicating that aggregation is a recurring phenomenon among flies with saprophagous adults and predatory larvae. Therefore, competition does not seem to play an important role in the determination of muscid assemblages in the grasslands in Southern Brazil.