Using "Design barriers" tool to split virtual species into multiply parts, and quantifying the niche similarity between different parts

Note:

The data used in this case study can be downloaded via this link.

In section "Create barriers to separate a N into two Ns", we knew how to split a N into two parts in G space with "Design barriers" tool. In that section, we separated N No.2 into two parts in G space. But there was no significant differences in E space. In this section, we will split N No.2 into more parts, observe their features in E space, and quantify their niche similarity in NicheA.

First, we use the "Design barriers" tool (Fig.1 and 2) to separate N No.2 into four parts (Australia, Africa, North America and South America; Fig. 3 to 6). Then we open all these four separated Ns one by one. Fig. 7 shows the Ns in both E space and G space.

Then We use "Quantify Niche overlap" function (Fig. 8 and 9) to calculate the niche overlaps between every area-pair (Table.1).

Figure 1. The menu of "Design barriers".

Figure 2. Select the N which is used to generate the barriers.

Figure 3. Select Australia in G space.

Figure 4. Select Africa in G space.

Figure 5. Select North America in G space.

Figure 7. The separated N in E and G space (Full size). Australia is in blue, Africa is in yellow, North America is in red, and South America is in green.

Figure 8. The menu to calculate the niche overlap.

Figure 9. The dialog to calculate the niche overlap.

Table 1. The niche overlaps between different areas.

Origin Australia Africa S America N America
Origin 25.34 4.31 13.11 23.31 24.66
Australia 5.21 4.40 4.54 4.31
Africa 15.43 13.46 13.12
S America 24.38 23.16
N America 24.71