Novel Insights to Be Gained From Applying Metacommunity Theory to Long-Term, Spatially Replicated Biodiversity Data

Abstract

Global loss of biodiversity and its associated ecosystem services is occurring at an alarming rate and is predicted to accelerate in the future. Metacommunity theory provides a framework to investigate multi-scale processes that drive change in biodiversity across space and time. Short-term ecological studies across space have progressed our understanding of biodiversity through a metacommunity lens, however, such snapshots in time have been limited in their ability to explain which processes, at which scales, generate observed spatial patterns. Temporal dynamics of metacommunities have been understudied, and large gaps in theory and empirical data have hindered progress in our understanding of underlying metacommunity processes that give rise to biodiversity patterns. Fortunately, we are at an important point in the history of ecology, where long-term studies with cross-scale spatial replication provide a means to gain a deeper understanding of the multiscale processes driving biodiversity patterns in time and space to inform metacommunity theory. The maturation of coordinated research and observation networks, such as the United States Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) program, provides an opportunity to advance explanation and prediction of biodiversity change with observational and experimental data at spatial and temporal scales greater than any single research group could accomplish. Synthesis of LTER network community datasets illustrates that long-term studies with spatial replication present an under-utilized resource for advancing spatio-temporal metacommunity research. We identify challenges towards synthesizing these data and present recommendations for addressing these challenges. We conclude with insights about how future monitoring efforts by coordinated research and observation networks could further the development of metacommunity theory and its applications aimed at improving conservation efforts.

How long do population level field experiments need to be? Utilising data from the 40‐year‐old LTER network

“…Owing to high temporal variability in community dynamics and lags in biodiversity response, changes in trophic structure may take decades or longer to be described and explained (Tilman et al 1994;Kuussaari et al 2009;Magurran et al 2010;Record et al 2020). The rate of community response following experimental disturbance is likely to depend on taxa specific traits within that community and consequently likely to play out over longer time periods than any individual species considered in isolation.…”

Spatiotemporal Patterns of Ant Metacommunity in a Montane Forest Archipelago

“…Ants are sessile organisms, so we are aware that either a variation in species activity or a sampling artifact can contribute to the values of species replacement found. Accumulating spatiotemporal replicated data via long-term studies will help unravel these issues, in addition to contributing to the advancement of metacommunity research (Record et al 2021).…”

The dual nature of metacommunity variability

“…As more long-term spatio-temporal surveys become available (Hughes et al 2017, Record et al 2021), it will become increasingly feasible to gain new insights into the mechanisms underlying metacommunity variability across systems. Nonetheless, we can assume the four scenarios presented in Fig.…”