Species niches, not traits, determine abundance and occupancy patterns: A multi-site synthesis
Corresponding Author
Nicholas A. C. Marino
Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Correspondence
Nicholas A. C. Marino, Avenida Carlos Chagas Filho, 373, Sala A0-008, Bloco A, Sub-Solo, Laboratório de Limnologia, Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil, CEP 21941-599.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorRégis Céréghino
ECOLAB, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, Toulouse, France
Search for more papers by this authorBenjamin Gilbert
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Search for more papers by this authorJana S. Petermann
Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research, Berlin, Germany
Department of Biosciences, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
Search for more papers by this authorDiane S. Srivastava
Department of Zoology & Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Search for more papers by this authorPaula M. de Omena
Laboratório de Interações Multitróficas e Biodiversidade, Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instutito de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil
Search for more papers by this authorFabiola Ospina Bautista
Department of Biological Sciences, University of the Andes, Bogotá, Colombia
Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de Caldas, Caldas, Colombia
Search for more papers by this authorLaura Melissa Guzman
Department of Biosciences, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
Search for more papers by this authorGustavo Q. Romero
Laboratório de Interações Multitróficas e Biodiversidade, Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instutito de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil
Search for more papers by this authorM. Kurtis Trzcinski
Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Search for more papers by this authorIgnacio M. Barberis
Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Consejo de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Zavalla, Argentina
Search for more papers by this authorBruno Corbara
Laboratoire Microorganismes, Génome et Environnement, Université Clermont Auvergne, Aubière, France
Search for more papers by this authorVanderlei J. Debastiani
Departamento de Ecologia e Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
Search for more papers by this authorOlivier Dézerald
UMR ESE, Ecology and Ecosystem Health, INRA, Rennes, France
Search for more papers by this authorPavel Kratina
School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
Search for more papers by this authorCéline Leroy
AMAP, IRD, CIRAD, CNRS, INRA, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
EcoFoG, AgroParisTech, CIRAD, CNRS, INRA, Université de Guyane, Université des Antilles, Kourou, France
Search for more papers by this authorArthur Andrew M. MacDonald
ECOLAB, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, Toulouse, France
Centre for the Synthesis and Analysis of Biodiversity (CESAB-FRB), Aix-en-Provence, France
Search for more papers by this authorGuillermo Montero
Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Zavalla, Argentina
Search for more papers by this authorValério D. Pillar
Departamento de Ecologia e Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
Search for more papers by this authorBarbara A. Richardson
Luquillo LTER, Institute for Tropical Ecosystem Studies, College of Natural Sciences, University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Search for more papers by this authorMichael J. Richardson
Luquillo LTER, Institute for Tropical Ecosystem Studies, College of Natural Sciences, University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Search for more papers by this authorStanislas Talaga
Unité d’Entomologie Médicale, Institut Pasteur de la Guyane, Cayenne, France
Search for more papers by this authorAna Z. Gonçalves
Departmento de Botânica, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
Search for more papers by this authorGustavo C. O. Piccoli
Departmento de Zoologia e Botânica, Universidade Estadual Paulista, São José do Rio Preto, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
Search for more papers by this authorMerlijn Jocqué
Aquatic and Terrestrial Ecology, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium
Search for more papers by this authorVinicius F. Farjalla
Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Nicholas A. C. Marino
Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Correspondence
Nicholas A. C. Marino, Avenida Carlos Chagas Filho, 373, Sala A0-008, Bloco A, Sub-Solo, Laboratório de Limnologia, Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil, CEP 21941-599.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorRégis Céréghino
ECOLAB, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, Toulouse, France
Search for more papers by this authorBenjamin Gilbert
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Search for more papers by this authorJana S. Petermann
Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research, Berlin, Germany
Department of Biosciences, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
Search for more papers by this authorDiane S. Srivastava
Department of Zoology & Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Search for more papers by this authorPaula M. de Omena
Laboratório de Interações Multitróficas e Biodiversidade, Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instutito de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil
Search for more papers by this authorFabiola Ospina Bautista
Department of Biological Sciences, University of the Andes, Bogotá, Colombia
Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de Caldas, Caldas, Colombia
Search for more papers by this authorLaura Melissa Guzman
Department of Biosciences, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
Search for more papers by this authorGustavo Q. Romero
Laboratório de Interações Multitróficas e Biodiversidade, Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instutito de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil
Search for more papers by this authorM. Kurtis Trzcinski
Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Search for more papers by this authorIgnacio M. Barberis
Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Consejo de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Zavalla, Argentina
Search for more papers by this authorBruno Corbara
Laboratoire Microorganismes, Génome et Environnement, Université Clermont Auvergne, Aubière, France
Search for more papers by this authorVanderlei J. Debastiani
Departamento de Ecologia e Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
Search for more papers by this authorOlivier Dézerald
UMR ESE, Ecology and Ecosystem Health, INRA, Rennes, France
Search for more papers by this authorPavel Kratina
School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
Search for more papers by this authorCéline Leroy
AMAP, IRD, CIRAD, CNRS, INRA, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
EcoFoG, AgroParisTech, CIRAD, CNRS, INRA, Université de Guyane, Université des Antilles, Kourou, France
Search for more papers by this authorArthur Andrew M. MacDonald
ECOLAB, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, Toulouse, France
Centre for the Synthesis and Analysis of Biodiversity (CESAB-FRB), Aix-en-Provence, France
Search for more papers by this authorGuillermo Montero
Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Zavalla, Argentina
Search for more papers by this authorValério D. Pillar
Departamento de Ecologia e Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
Search for more papers by this authorBarbara A. Richardson
Luquillo LTER, Institute for Tropical Ecosystem Studies, College of Natural Sciences, University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Search for more papers by this authorMichael J. Richardson
Luquillo LTER, Institute for Tropical Ecosystem Studies, College of Natural Sciences, University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Search for more papers by this authorStanislas Talaga
Unité d’Entomologie Médicale, Institut Pasteur de la Guyane, Cayenne, France
Search for more papers by this authorAna Z. Gonçalves
Departmento de Botânica, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
Search for more papers by this authorGustavo C. O. Piccoli
Departmento de Zoologia e Botânica, Universidade Estadual Paulista, São José do Rio Preto, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
Search for more papers by this authorMerlijn Jocqué
Aquatic and Terrestrial Ecology, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium
Search for more papers by this authorVinicius F. Farjalla
Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
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.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Open Research
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
All the raw data we used in this manuscript are available in the R package fwdata. Instructions for downloading the package and data can be found at https://github.com/SrivastavaLab/fwdata. The processed data used to perform all analyses has been deposited at the Dryad Digital Repository, and can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.4mw6m906g; any other query related to additional data should be submitted directly to the corresponding author.
Supporting Information
| Filename | Description |
|---|---|
| geb13029-sup-0001-AppendixS1.docxWord document, 3.3 MB | |
| geb13029-sup-0002-AppendixS2.xlsxapplication/excel, 11.3 KB | |
| geb13029-sup-0003-AppendixS3.docxWord document, 22.2 KB |
Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.
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