Metacommunity Versus Biogeography: A Case Study Of Two Groups Of Neotropical Vegetation-dwelling Arthropods

Biogeography and metacommunity ecology provide two different perspectives on species diversity. Both are spatial in nature but their spatial scales do not necessarily match. With recent boom of metacommunity studies, we see an increasing need for clear discrimination of spatial scales relevant for both perspectives. This discrimination is a necessary prerequisite for improved understanding of ecological phenomena across scales. Here we provide a case study to illustrate some spatial scale-dependent concepts in recent metacommunity studies and identify potential pitfalls. We presented here the diversity patterns of Neotropical lepidopterans and spiders viewed both from metacommunity and biogeographical perspectives. Specifically, we investigated how the relative importance of niche- and dispersal-based processes for community assembly change at two spatial scales: metacommunity scale, i.e. within a locality, and biogeographical scale, i.e. among localities widely scattered along a macroclimatic gradient. As expected, niche-based processes dominated the community assembly at metacommunity scale, while dispersal-based processes played a major role at biogeographical scale for both taxonomical groups. However, we also observed small but significant spatial effects at metacommunity scale and environmental effects at biogeographical scale. We also observed differences in diversity patterns between the two taxonomical groups corresponding to differences in their dispersal modes. Our results thus support the idea of continuity of processes interactively shaping diversity patterns across scales and emphasize the necessity of integration of metacommunity and biogeographical perspectives.912Von Humboldt, A., Bonpland, A., (1807) Essay on the Geography of Plants, , Chicago and London: The University of Chicago PressWillis, J., (1922) Age and Area: A Study in Geographical Distribution and Origin of Species, , Cambridge: The University of Cambridge PressCurrie, D.J., Mittelbach, G.G., Cornell, H.V., Field, R., Guegan, J.-F., Predictions and tests of climate-based hypotheses of broad-scale variation in taxonomic richness (2004) Ecology Letters, 7, pp. 1121-1134Hillebrand, H., On the generality of the latitudinal diversity gradient (2004) The American Naturalist, 163, pp. 192-211Macarthur, R.H., (1984) Geographical Ecology: Patterns in the Distribution of Species, , Princeton University PressRicklefs, R.E., A comprehensive framework for global patterns in biodiversity (2004) Ecology Letters, 7, pp. 1-15Ricklefs, R.E., Schluter, D., (1993) Species Diversity in Ecological Communities: Historical and Geographical Perspectives, , Chicago and London: University of Chicago PressCornell, H.V., Lawton, J.H., Species interactions, local and regional processes, and limits to the richness of ecological communities: A theoretical perspective (1992) Journal of Animal Ecology, 61, pp. 1-12Cornell, H.V., Harrison, S.P., Regional effects as important determinants of local diversity in both marine and terrestrial systems Oikos, 122, pp. 288-297. , 2013Holyoak, M., Leibold, M.A., Holt, R.D., (2005) Metacommunities: Spatial Dynamics and Ecological Communities, , Chicago and London: The University of Chicago PressHarrison, S., Cornell, H., Toward a better understanding of the regional causes of local community richness (2008) Ecology Letters, 11, pp. 969-979Leibold, M., Holyoak, M., Mouquet, N., Amarasekare, P., Chase, J.M., The metacommunity concept: A framework for multi-scale community ecology (2004) Ecology Letters, 7, pp. 601-613Cottenie, K., Integrating environmental and spatial processes in ecological community dynamics (2005) Ecology Letters, 8, pp. 1175-1182Nekola, J.C., White, P.S., Carolina, N., Hill, C., The distance decay of similarity in biogeography and ecology (1999) Journal of Biogeography, 26, pp. 867-878Ng, I.S.Y., Carr, C.M., Cottenie, K., Hierarchical zooplankton metacommunities: Distinguishing between high and limiting dispersal mechanisms (2009) Hydrobiologia, 619, pp. 133-143Astorga, A., Oksanen, J., Luoto, M., Soininen, J., Virtanen, R., Distance decay of similarity in freshwater communities: Do macro- and microorganisms follow the same rules? 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