Traits mediate niches and co-occurrences of forest beetles in ways that differ among bioclimatic regions
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Date
2021-12
Publication Type
Journal Article
ETH Bibliography
yes
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Abstract
Aim
The aim of this study was to investigate the role of traits in beetle community assembly and test for consistency in these effects among several bioclimatic regions. We asked (1) whether traits predicted species’ responses to environmental gradients (i.e. their niches), (2) whether these same traits could predict co-occurrence patterns and (3) how consistent were niches and the role of traits among study regions.
Location
Boreal forests in Norway and Finland, temperate forests in Germany.
Taxon
Wood-living (saproxylic) beetles.
Methods
We compiled capture records of 468 wood-living beetle species from the three regions, along with nine morphological and ecological species traits. Eight climatic and forest covariates were also collected. We used Bayesian hierarchical joint species distribution models to estimate the influence of traits and phylogeny on species’ niches. We also tested for correlations between species associations and trait similarity. Finally, we compared species niches and the effects of traits among study regions.
Results
Traits explained some of the variability in species’ niches, but their effects differed among study regions. However, substantial phylogenetic signal in species niches implies that unmeasured but phylogenetically structured traits have a stronger effect. Degree of trait similarity was correlated with species associations but depended idiosyncratically on the trait and region. Species niches were much more consistent—widespread taxa often responded similarly to an environmental gradient in each region.
Main conclusions
The inconsistent effects of traits among regions limit their current use in understanding beetle community assembly. Phylogenetic signal in niches, however, implies that better predictive traits can eventually be identified. Consistency of species niches among regions means niches may remain relatively stable under future climate and land use changes; this lends credibility to predictive distribution models based on future climate projections but may imply that species’ scope for short-term adaptation is limited.
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Publication status
published
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Book title
Journal / series
Volume
48 (12)
Pages / Article No.
3145 - 3157
Publisher
Wiley
Event
Edition / version
Methods
Software
Geographic location
Date collected
Date created
Subject
Bayesian joint species distribution models (JSDMs); climate change; Coleoptera; ecological traits; environmental gradients; HMSC; morphological traits; phylogeny; saproxylic beetles; species associations