Local environment and space drive multiple facets of stream macroinvertebrate beta diversity

Abstract

Aim: Understanding variation in biodiversity typically requires consideration of factors operating at different spatial scales. Recently, ecologists and biogeographers have recognized the need of analysing ecological communities in the light of multiple facets including not only species-level information but also functional and phylogenetic approaches to improve our understanding of the relative contribution of processes shaping biodiversity. Here, our aim was to disentangle the relative importance of environmental variables measured at multiple levels (i.e., local, catchment, climate, and spatial variables) influencing variation in macroinvertebrate beta diversity facets (i.e., species, traits, and phylogeny) and their components (i.e., replacement and abundance difference) in boreal streams. Taxon: Aquatic macroinvertebrates Location: Western FinlandMethods: A total of 105 streams were sampled in western Finland, encompassing a geographical extent over 500 km. We analysed variation in the different beta diversity facets and components using distance-based redundancy analysis and associated variation partitioning procedures. We modelled spatial structures using distance-based Moran eigenvector maps. Results:We found that the relative influence of explanatory variables on each diversity facet and component revealed relatively similar patterns. Our main finding was that local environmental and spatial variables generally contributed most to the total explained variability in all facets and components of beta diversity, whereas catchment and climate variables explained less variation in the beta diversity facets at the spatial scale considered in this study.Main conclusions: Different facets of beta diversity were mainly influenced by local environmental variables and spatial structuring, likely acting through deterministic and stochastic pathways respectively. Identifying the ecological variables and mechanisms that drive variation in beta diversity may be used to guide the conservation and restoration efforts for biodiversity under global change.

Direct and indirect effects of environmental factors, spatial constraints, and functional traits on shaping the plant diversity of montane forests

“…Moreover, spatial and environmental variables could explain more trees diversity changes than shrubs. Similar results from a previous study also showed that spatial factors and local environmental variables determined the diversity of stream macroinvertebrates (Perez Rocha et al, ). Species diversity may be affected by diffusion dynamics (Leibold et al, ).…”

Beta diversity patterns in zooplankton assemblages from a semiarid river ecosystem

“…The dominance of the Ab‐diff in driving zooplankton beta diversity in both the Parnaíba and Poti rivers suggests that zooplankton assemblages are highly nested, which means poor‐in‐abundance sites are subsets of the most abundant sites along the gradient (Carvalho et al, 2012; Legendre, 2014). This finding contradicts previous studies that have reported replacement (turnover) playing a major role in explaining beta diversity in zooplankton assemblages in different systems (e.g., ponds, lakes, and wetlands; Mimouni et al, 2018; Vad et al, 2012) and in other aquatic communities such as phytoplankton (Lansac‐Tôha et al, 2019), fish (López‐Delgado et al, 2020), and macroinvertebrates (Perez Rocha et al, 2018). Therefore, our expectation that replacement would be the main component of beta diversity in the zooplankton assemblages was not fulfilled.…”

“…Most studies, applying these methods, have reported that replacement is the dominant component in driving beta diversity in aquatic communities (Lansac‐Tôha et al, 2019; López‐Delgado et al, 2020; Perez Rocha et al, 2018; Vad et al, 2012; Victorero et al, 2018). However, the relative importance of replacement and abundance difference may change, depending on the ecological processes structuring metacommunities (Heino et al, 2019).…”

Taxonomic divergence and functional convergence in Iberian spider forest communities: Insights from beta diversity partitioning

“…These findings converge with some studies that showed the same tendency for carabids (Boieiro et al, 2013), terrestrial vertebrates (Calderón-Patrón, Moreno, Pineda-López, Sánchez-Rojas, & Zuria, 2013), plants (Marini et al, 2013), birds (Ferger et al, 2017), and ground and diving beetles (Heino, Alahuhta, Fattorini, & Schmera, 2019). In another study, local and spatial variables were found to be important drivers of all facets of macroinvertebrate beta diversity, whereas catchment and climate variables were less effective in explaining variation in macro invertebrate beta diversity patterns (Rocha et al, 2018). Notwithstanding these studies, a synthesis is not yet possible and future work should aim to determine whether or not similar findings occur in other systems and taxonomic groups.…”