Process-based species pools reveal the hidden signature of biotic interactions amid the influence of temperature filtering

TY - JOUR

T1 - Process-based species pools reveal the hidden signature of biotic interactions amid the influence of temperature filtering

AU - Lessard, Jean-Philippe

AU - Weinstein, Ben G.

AU - Borregaard, Michael Krabbe

AU - Marske, Katharine Ann

AU - Martin, Danny R.

AU - McGuire, Jimmy A.

AU - Parra, Juan L.

AU - Rahbek, Carsten

AU - Graham, Catherine H.

PY - 2016

Y1 - 2016

N2 - A persistent challenge in ecology is to tease apart the in-fluence of multiple processes acting simultaneously and interacting in complex ways to shape the structure of species assemblages. We implement a heuristic approach that relies on explicitly defining spe-cies pools and permits assessment of the relative influence of themain processes thought to shape assemblage structure: environmental fil-tering, dispersal limitations, and biotic interactions. We illustrate our approach using data on the assemblage composition and geographic distribution of hummingbirds, a comprehensive phylogeny and mor-phological traits. The implementation of several process-based species pool definitions in null models suggests that temperature-but not pre-cipitation or dispersal limitation-acts as the main regional filter of as-semblage structure. Incorporating this environmental filter directly into the definition of assemblage-specific species pools revealed an other-wise hidden pattern of phylogenetic evenness, indicating that biotic in-teractions might further influence hummingbird assemblage structure. Such hidden patterns of assemblage structure call for a reexamination of a multitude of phylogenetic-and trait-based studies that did not ex-plicitly consider potentially important processes in their definition of the species pool. Our heuristic approach provides a transparent way to explore patterns and refine interpretations of the underlying causes of assemblage structure.

AB - A persistent challenge in ecology is to tease apart the in-fluence of multiple processes acting simultaneously and interacting in complex ways to shape the structure of species assemblages. We implement a heuristic approach that relies on explicitly defining spe-cies pools and permits assessment of the relative influence of themain processes thought to shape assemblage structure: environmental fil-tering, dispersal limitations, and biotic interactions. We illustrate our approach using data on the assemblage composition and geographic distribution of hummingbirds, a comprehensive phylogeny and mor-phological traits. The implementation of several process-based species pool definitions in null models suggests that temperature-but not pre-cipitation or dispersal limitation-acts as the main regional filter of as-semblage structure. Incorporating this environmental filter directly into the definition of assemblage-specific species pools revealed an other-wise hidden pattern of phylogenetic evenness, indicating that biotic in-teractions might further influence hummingbird assemblage structure. Such hidden patterns of assemblage structure call for a reexamination of a multitude of phylogenetic-and trait-based studies that did not ex-plicitly consider potentially important processes in their definition of the species pool. Our heuristic approach provides a transparent way to explore patterns and refine interpretations of the underlying causes of assemblage structure.

KW - Community assembly

KW - Dispersal limitation

KW - Niche differentiation

KW - Regional species pool

KW - Scale

U2 - 10.1086/684128

DO - 10.1086/684128

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 27277404

AN - SCOPUS:84951284711

SN - 0003-0147

VL - 187

SP - 75

EP - 88

JO - The American Naturalist

JF - The American Naturalist

IS - 1

ER -