Mountain caves of the central region of Veracruz: A vertebrate biodiversity reservoir in a Neotropical hotspot

amphibians and reptiles, species replacement contributed more substantially to the β-diversity values of these groups (100% and 60%, respectively) (Fig 5). Beta diversity in caves between altitudinal zones In karst caves, mammals and birds were the vertebrate classes with the highest β-diversity between caves but also between altitudinal zones Z1 and Z2 (Fig 6). The β-diversity values of Fig 5. β-diversity values of four vertebrate classes calculated between karst and volcanic caves. The total height represents the overall β-diversity. Overall β-diversity is partitioned into replacement (repl. in yellow) and richness (rich in red) components. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0306105.g005 Fig 4. Diversity (Hill numbers) profiles of mammals (a), birds (b), reptiles (c), and amphibians (d) in the euphotic, disphotic, and aphotic environments of karst (K-E, K-D, K-A) and volcanic (V-E, V-D, V-A) caves. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0306105.g004 PLOS ONE Vertebrates in caves of Neotropical hotspot PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0306105 August 9, 2024 9 / 19