RESEARCH ARTICLE The Interplay between Environmental Filtering and Spatial Processes in Structuring Communities: The Case of Neotropical Snake Communities

Both habitat filters and spatial processes can influence community structure. Space alone affects species immigration from the regional species pool, whereas habitat filters affect species distribution and inter-specific interactions. This study aimed to understand how the interplay between environmental and geographical processes influenced the structure of Neotropical snake communities in different habitat types. We selected six studies that sam-pled snakes in forests, four conducted in savannas and two in grasslands (the latter two are grouped in a non-forest category). We used the net relatedness and nearest taxon indices to assess phylogenetic structure within forest and non-forest areas. We also used the phylo-genetic fuzzy-weighting algorithm to characterize phylogenetic structure across communi-ties and the relation of phylogenetic composition patterns to habitat type, structure, and latitude. Finally, we tested for morphological trait convergence and phylogenetic niche con-servatism using four forest and four non-forest areas for which morphological data were available. Community phylogenetic composition changed across forest and non-forest areas suggesting that environmental filtering influences community structure. Species trait