Journal Article

Species niches, not traits, determine abundance and occupancy patterns: A multi‐site synthesis

Unité d'entomologie médicale ; Vectopôle Amazonien Emile Abonnenc [Cayenne, Guyane française] ; Institut Pasteur de la Guyane ; Réseau International des Instituts Pasteur (RIIP)-Réseau International des Instituts Pasteur (RIIP)-Institut Pasteur de la Guyane ; Réseau International des Instituts Pasteur (RIIP)-Réseau International des Instituts Pasteur (RIIP), Belmaker, Jonathan, Trzcinski, M. Kurtis, Piccoli, Gustavo C. O, Petermann, Jana S, Richardson, Barbara A, Jocqué, Merlijn, Macdonald, Arthur Andrew M, Richardson, Michael J, Cereghino, Régis, Kratina, Pavel, Marino, Nicholas A. C, Srivastava, Diane S, Barberis, Ignacio M, Leroy, Céline, Gilbert, Benjamin, Ecologie des forêts de Guyane (UMR ECOFOG) ; Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-AgroParisTech-Université de Guyane (UG)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université des Antilles (UA)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Romero, Gusta

2020

Overview

Aim: Locally abundant species are usually widespread, and this pattern has been related to properties of the niches and traits of species. However, such explanations fail to account for the potential of traits to determine species niches and often overlook statistical artefacts. Here, we examine how trait distinctiveness determines the abilities of species to exploit either common habitats (niche position) or a range of habitats (niche breadth) and how niche position and breadth, in turn, affect abundance and occupancy. We also examine how statistical artefacts moderate these relationships. Location: Sixteen sites in the Neotropics. Time period 1993–2014. Major taxa studied Aquatic invertebrates from tank bromeliads. Methods: We measured the environmental niche position and breadth of each species and calculated its trait distinctiveness as the average trait difference from all other species at each site. Then, we used a combination of structural equation models and a meta-analytical approach to test trait–niche relationships and a null model to control for statistical artefacts. Results: The trait distinctiveness of each species was unrelated to its niche properties, abundance and occupancy. In contrast, niche position was the main predictor of abundance and occupancy; species that used the most common environmental conditions found across bromeliads were locally abundant and widespread. Contributions of niche breadth to such patterns were attributable to statistical artefacts, indicating that effects of niche breadth might have been overestimated in previous studies. Main conclusions: Our study reveals the generality of niche position in explaining one of the most common ecological patterns. The robustness of this result is underscored by the geographical extent of our study and our control of statistical artefacts. We call for a similar examination across other systems, which is an essential task to understand the drivers of commonness across the tree of life.

• Publisher: Wiley,HAL CCSD,Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subject: Abundance / aquatic invertebrates / Aquatic organisms / Biodiversity / Biodiversity and Ecology / Botanics / Bromeliaceae / Ecological effects / Ecology, environment / Ecosystems / Environmental conditions / environmental factors / environmental niche / Environmental Sciences / functional distinctiveness / functional traits / Invertebrates / Life Sciences / Mathematical models / Measurement methods / metacommunity / Multivariate statistical analysis / Neotropics / Niche breadth / Niche position / niches / Occupancy / Position measurement / Research Papers / Species / structural equation modeling / Systematics, Phylogenetics and taxonomy / Vegetal Biology
• ISBN: 0004953592, 9780004953595