High Temporal Beta Diversity in an Ant Metacommunity, With Increasing Temporal Functional Replacement Along the Elevational Gradient

Beta diversity is usually high along elevational gradients. We studied a spider community at the Pico da Neblina (Brazil), an Amazonian mountain which is one of the southern components of the Guayana region. We sampled six elevations and investigated if beta diversity patterns correspond to the elevational division proposed for the region, between lowlands (up to 500 m), uplands (500 m to 1500 m), and highlands (>1500 m). Patterns of dominance increased with elevation along the gradient, especially at the two highest elevations, indicating that changes in composition may be accompanied by changes in species abundance distribution. Beta diversity recorded was very high, but the pattern observed was not in accordance with the elevationaldivision proposed for the region. While the highlands indeed harbored different fauna, the three lowest elevationshad similar species compositions, indicating that the lowlands spider community extends into the uplands zone. Other measures of compositional change, such as similarity indices and species indicator analysis, also support this pattern. Our results, in addition to a revision of the literature, confirm the high diversity and endemism rates of montane spider communities, and we stress the importance of protecting those environments, especially considering the climate crisis.

Download Full-text

Decision letter for "Temporal beta diversity of lake plants is determined by concomitant changes in environmental factors across decades"

10.1111/1365-2745.13508/v1/decision1 ◽

2020 ◽

Keyword(s):

Environmental Factors ◽

Beta Diversity ◽

Temporal Beta Diversity

Download Full-text

Species richness and beta diversity patterns of multiple taxa along an elevational gradient in pastured grasslands in the European Alps

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-020-69569-9 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Veronika Fontana ◽

Elia Guariento ◽

Andreas Hilpold ◽

Georg Niedrist ◽

Michael Steinwandter ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Beta Diversity ◽

Elevational Gradient ◽

European Alps ◽

Diversity Patterns

Download Full-text

Degrees of compositional shift in tree communities vary along a gradient of temperature change rates over one decade: Application of an individual-based temporal beta-diversity concept

10.1101/2020.01.30.920660 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Ryosuke Nakadai

Keyword(s):

Temperature Change ◽

Community Composition ◽

Beta Diversity ◽

Temporal Patterns ◽

Diversity Indices ◽

Temporal Changes ◽

Individual Identity ◽

Relative Speed ◽

Identity Information ◽

Temporal Beta Diversity

AbstractTemporal patterns in communities have gained widespread attention recently, to the extent that temporal changes in community composition are now termed “temporal beta-diversity”. Previous studies of beta-diversity have made use of two classes of dissimilarity indices: incidence-based (e.g., Sørensen and Jaccard dissimilarity) and abundance-based (e.g., Bray–Curtis and Ružička dissimilarity). However, in the context of temporal beta-diversity, the persistence of identical individuals and turnover among other individuals within the same species over time have not been considered, despite the fact that both will affect compositional changes in communities. To address this issue, I propose new index concepts for beta-diversity and the relative speed of compositional shifts in relation to individual turnover based on individual identity information. Individual-based beta-diversity indices are novel dissimilarity indices that consider individual identity information to quantitatively evaluate temporal change in individual turnover and community composition. I applied these new indices to individually tracked tree monitoring data in deciduous and evergreen broad-leaved forests across the Japanese archipelago with the objective of quantifying the effect of climate change trends (i.e., rates of change of both annual mean temperature and annual precipitation) on individual turnover and compositional shifts at each site. A new index explored the relative contributions of mortality and recruitment processes to temporal changes in community composition. Clear patterns emerged showing that an increase in the temperature change rate facilitated the relative contribution of mortality components. The relative speed of compositional shift increased with increasing temperature change rates in deciduous forests but decreased with increasing warming rates in evergreen forests. These new concepts provide a way to identify novel and high-resolution temporal patterns in communities.

Download Full-text

Individual-based multiple-unit dissimilarity: novel indices for assessing temporal variability in community composition

10.1101/2021.01.17.427031 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ryosuke Nakadai

Keyword(s):

Community Composition ◽

Beta Diversity ◽

Temporal Dynamics ◽

Diversity Indices ◽

Barro Colorado Island ◽

Forest Monitoring ◽

List Type ◽

Wide Range ◽

Multiple Unit ◽

Temporal Beta Diversity

AbstractBeta-diversity was originally defined spatially, i.e., as variation in community composition among sites in a region. However, the concept of beta-diversity has since been expanded to temporal contexts. This is referred to as “temporal beta-diversity”, and most approaches are simply an extension of spatial beta-diversity.The persistence and turnover of individuals over time is a unique feature of temporal beta-diversity. Nakadai (2020) introduced the “individual-based beta-diversity” concept, and provided novel indices to evaluate individual turnover and compositional shift by comparing individual turnover between two periods at a given site. However, the proposed individual-based indices are applicable only to pairwise dissimilarity, not to multiple-temporal (or more generally, multiple-unit) dissimilarity.Here, individual-based beta-diversity indices are extended to multiple-unit cases.To demonstrate the usage the properties of these indices compared to average pairwise measures, I applied them to a dataset for a permanent 50-ha forest dynamics plot on Barro Colorado Island in Panama.Information regarding “individuals” is generally missing from community ecology and biodiversity studies of temporal dynamics. In this context, the method proposed here is expected to be useful for addressing a wide range of research questions regarding temporal changes in biodiversity, especially studies using individual-tracked forest monitoring data.

Download Full-text

Northern Cerrado Native Vegetation is a Refuge for Birds Under Current Climate Change

10.1101/2021.11.17.468959 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

José Hidasi-Neto ◽

Nicole Mércia Alves Gomes ◽

Nelson Silva Pinto

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Species Richness ◽

Beta Diversity ◽

Climate Scenario ◽

Niche Modelling ◽

Alpha And Beta Diversity ◽

Management Actions ◽

Species Invasions ◽

Local Extinctions ◽

Temporal Beta Diversity

Climate Change is already seen as one of the biggest threats to biodiversity in the 21 st century. Not much studies direct attention to its effects on whole communities of threatened hotspots. In the present work, we combine ecological niche modelling (ENM) with a future climate scenario of greenhouse gases emissions to study the future changes in alpha and beta diversity of birds of the Brazilian Cerrado biome, a hotspot of biodiversity with high velocity of climate change and agricultural expansion. In general, we found heterogeneous results for changes in species richness, spatial and temporal taxonomic and functional beta diversity, and mean ecological distinctiveness. Contrary to a previous study on Cerrado mammals, species richness is expected to increase in Northern Cerrado, where homogenization of communities (decreasing spatial turnover) is also expected to occur especially through local invasions. We show that biotic homogenization (which is composed of local extinction of natives and local invasion of exotic species) will occur in two biological groups but through different subprocesses: local extinctions for mammals and local invasions for birds. Distinct conservation management actions should be directed depending on the outcomes of analyzes of alpha and spatial and temporal beta diversity, for example controlling species invasions in Northern Cerrado. Conservation studies should continue evaluating Cerrado in Brazil even under covid pandemic, as environmental situation in the country is not good and incentives for scientific studies are almost nonexistent.

Download Full-text

Zooplankton temporal beta diversity along the longitudinal axis of a tropical reservoir

Limnology ◽

10.1007/s10201-018-0558-y ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

pp. 121-130 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Vanessa G. Lopes ◽

Christina W. Castelo Branco ◽

Betina Kozlowsky-Suzuki ◽

Luis Mauricio Bini

Keyword(s):

Beta Diversity ◽

Longitudinal Axis ◽

Tropical Reservoir ◽

Temporal Beta Diversity

Download Full-text

Rates of Species Accumulation and Taxonomic Diversification during Phototrophic Biofilm Development Are Controlled by both Nutrient Supply and Current Velocity

Applied and Environmental Microbiology ◽

10.1128/aem.03788-12 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 79 (6) ◽

pp. 2054-2060 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Chad A. Larson ◽

Sophia I. Passy

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Current Velocity ◽

Beta Diversity ◽

Taxon Richness ◽

Temporal Heterogeneity ◽

Nutrient Inputs ◽

Species Accumulation ◽

High Nutrient ◽

Temporal Beta Diversity ◽

Biofilm Development

ABSTRACTThe accumulation of new and taxonomically diverse species is a marked feature of community development, but the role of the environment in this process is not well understood. To address this problem, we subjected periphyton in laboratory streams to low (10-cm · s−1), high (30-cm · s−1), and variable (9- to 32-cm · s−1) current velocity and low- versus high-nutrient inputs. We examined how current velocity and resource supply constrained (i) the rates of species accumulation, a measure of temporal beta-diversity, and (ii) the rates of diversification of higher taxonomic categories, defined here as the rate of higher taxon richness increase with the increase of species richness. Temporal biofilm dynamics were controlled by a strong nutrient-current interaction. Nutrients accelerated the rates of accumulation of new species, when flow velocity was not too stressful. Species were more taxonomically diverse under variable than under low-flow conditions, indicating that flow heterogeneity increased the niche diversity in the high-nutrient treatments. Conversely, the lower diversification rates under high- than under low-nutrient conditions at low velocity are explained with finer resource partitioning among species, belonging to a limited number of related genera. The overall low rates of diversification in high-current treatments suggest that the ability to withstand current stress was conserved within closely related species. Temporal heterogeneity of disturbance has been shown to promote species richness, but here we further demonstrate that it also affects two other components of biodiversity, i.e., temporal beta-diversity and diversification rate. Therefore, management efforts for preserving the inherent temporal heterogeneity of natural ecosystems will have detectable positive effects on biodiversity.

Download Full-text