Alternative measures of trait–niche relationships: A test on dispersal traits in saproxylic beetles
Abstract Functional trait approaches are common in ecology, but a lack of clear hypotheses on how traits relate to environmental gradients (i.e., trait–niche relationships) often makes uncovering mechanisms difficult. Furthermore, measures of community functional structure differ in their implicatio...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2023-10-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10588 |
| _version_ | 1797648397860077568 |
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| author | Ryan C. Burner Jörg G. Stephan Lukas Drag Mária Potterf Tone Birkemoe Juha Siitonen Jörg Müller Otso Ovaskainen Anne Sverdrup‐Thygeson Tord Snäll |
| author_facet | Ryan C. Burner Jörg G. Stephan Lukas Drag Mária Potterf Tone Birkemoe Juha Siitonen Jörg Müller Otso Ovaskainen Anne Sverdrup‐Thygeson Tord Snäll |
| author_sort | Ryan C. Burner |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Functional trait approaches are common in ecology, but a lack of clear hypotheses on how traits relate to environmental gradients (i.e., trait–niche relationships) often makes uncovering mechanisms difficult. Furthermore, measures of community functional structure differ in their implications, yet inferences are seldom compared among metrics. Community‐weighted mean trait values (CWMs), a common measure, are largely driven by the most common species and thus do not reflect community‐wide trait–niche relationships per se. Alternatively, trait–niche relationships can be estimated across a larger group of species using hierarchical joint species distribution models (JSDMs), quantified by a parameter Γ. We investigated how inferences about trait–niche relationships are affected by the choice of metric. Using deadwood‐dependent (saproxylic) beetles in fragmented Finnish forests, we followed a protocol for investigating trait–niche relationships by (1) identifying environmental filters (climate, forest age, and deadwood volume), (2) relating these to an ecological function (dispersal ability), and (3) identifying traits related to this function (wing morphology). We tested 18 hypothesized dispersal relationships using both CWM and Γ estimates across these environmental gradients. CWMs were more likely than Γ to show support for trait–niche relationships. Up to 13% of species' realized niches were explained by dispersal traits, but the directions of effects were consistent with fewer than 11%–39% of our 18 trait–niche hypotheses (depending on the metric used). This highlights the difficulty in connecting morphological traits and ecological functions in insects, despite the clear conceptual link between landscape connectivity and flight‐related traits. Caution is thus warranted in hypothesis development, particularly where apparent trait–function links are less clear. Inferences differ when CWMs versus Γ estimates are used, necessitating the choice of a metric that reflects study questions. CWMs help explain the effects of environmental gradients on community trait composition, whereas the effects of traits on species' niches are better estimated using hierarchical JSDMs. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T15:30:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e5f4abddfd1148ea9bc2901dd8381e81 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T15:30:34Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj.art-e5f4abddfd1148ea9bc2901dd8381e812023-10-27T04:40:51ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582023-10-011310n/an/a10.1002/ece3.10588Alternative measures of trait–niche relationships: A test on dispersal traits in saproxylic beetlesRyan C. Burner0Jörg G. Stephan1Lukas Drag2Mária Potterf3Tone Birkemoe4Juha Siitonen5Jörg Müller6Otso Ovaskainen7Anne Sverdrup‐Thygeson8Tord Snäll9U.S. Geological Survey Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center La Crosse Wisconsin USASLU Swedish Species Information Centre Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Uppsala SwedenField Station Fabrikschleichach, Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter University of Würzburg Rauhenebrach GermanyDepartment of Life Science Systems Technical University of Munich Freising Bavaria GermanyFaculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management Norwegian University of Life Sciences Ås NorwayNatural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) Helsinki FinlandField Station Fabrikschleichach, Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter University of Würzburg Rauhenebrach GermanyDepartment of Biological and Environmental Science University of Jyväskylä Jyväskylä FinlandFaculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management Norwegian University of Life Sciences Ås NorwaySLU Swedish Species Information Centre Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Uppsala SwedenAbstract Functional trait approaches are common in ecology, but a lack of clear hypotheses on how traits relate to environmental gradients (i.e., trait–niche relationships) often makes uncovering mechanisms difficult. Furthermore, measures of community functional structure differ in their implications, yet inferences are seldom compared among metrics. Community‐weighted mean trait values (CWMs), a common measure, are largely driven by the most common species and thus do not reflect community‐wide trait–niche relationships per se. Alternatively, trait–niche relationships can be estimated across a larger group of species using hierarchical joint species distribution models (JSDMs), quantified by a parameter Γ. We investigated how inferences about trait–niche relationships are affected by the choice of metric. Using deadwood‐dependent (saproxylic) beetles in fragmented Finnish forests, we followed a protocol for investigating trait–niche relationships by (1) identifying environmental filters (climate, forest age, and deadwood volume), (2) relating these to an ecological function (dispersal ability), and (3) identifying traits related to this function (wing morphology). We tested 18 hypothesized dispersal relationships using both CWM and Γ estimates across these environmental gradients. CWMs were more likely than Γ to show support for trait–niche relationships. Up to 13% of species' realized niches were explained by dispersal traits, but the directions of effects were consistent with fewer than 11%–39% of our 18 trait–niche hypotheses (depending on the metric used). This highlights the difficulty in connecting morphological traits and ecological functions in insects, despite the clear conceptual link between landscape connectivity and flight‐related traits. Caution is thus warranted in hypothesis development, particularly where apparent trait–function links are less clear. Inferences differ when CWMs versus Γ estimates are used, necessitating the choice of a metric that reflects study questions. CWMs help explain the effects of environmental gradients on community trait composition, whereas the effects of traits on species' niches are better estimated using hierarchical JSDMs.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10588Bayesian joint species distribution modelcommunity‐weighted mean trait valuesdeadwooddispersal capacitymorphological traitsphylogeny |
| spellingShingle | Ryan C. Burner Jörg G. Stephan Lukas Drag Mária Potterf Tone Birkemoe Juha Siitonen Jörg Müller Otso Ovaskainen Anne Sverdrup‐Thygeson Tord Snäll Alternative measures of trait–niche relationships: A test on dispersal traits in saproxylic beetles Ecology and Evolution Bayesian joint species distribution model community‐weighted mean trait values deadwood dispersal capacity morphological traits phylogeny |
| title | Alternative measures of trait–niche relationships: A test on dispersal traits in saproxylic beetles |
| title_full | Alternative measures of trait–niche relationships: A test on dispersal traits in saproxylic beetles |
| title_fullStr | Alternative measures of trait–niche relationships: A test on dispersal traits in saproxylic beetles |
| title_full_unstemmed | Alternative measures of trait–niche relationships: A test on dispersal traits in saproxylic beetles |
| title_short | Alternative measures of trait–niche relationships: A test on dispersal traits in saproxylic beetles |
| title_sort | alternative measures of trait niche relationships a test on dispersal traits in saproxylic beetles |
| topic | Bayesian joint species distribution model community‐weighted mean trait values deadwood dispersal capacity morphological traits phylogeny |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10588 |
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