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

A persistent challenge in ecology is to tease apart the influence 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 species pools and permits assessment of the relative influence of the main processes thought to shape assemblage structure: environmental filtering, dispersal limitations and biotic interactions. We illustrate our approach using data on the assemblage composition and geographic distribution of hummingbirds, a comprehensive phylogeny and morphological traits. The implementation of several process-based species pool definitions in null models suggests that temperature, but not precipitation or dispersal limitation, acts as the main regional filter of assemblage structure. Incorporating this environmental filter directly into the definition of assemblage-specific species pools revealed an otherwise hidden pattern of phylogenetic evenness, indicating that biotic interactions 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 explicitly 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.hummer_traits_LessardWe compiled measurements of body mass (in grams) and exposed culmen (in millimeters) from literature and unpublished data, including PhD dissertations and measurements taken in the field, for males and females of 334 species of hummingbirds. For the species that were sampled in the field, body mass was measured to the nearest 0.1 g with 10-g and 50-g Pesola spring balances, and exposed culmen was measured to the nearest 0.1 mm with dial calipers.hummer_tree_LessardWe used a phylogenetic tree (fig. S2) constructed from DNA sequences covering six genetic loci (four nuclear and two mitochondrial) representing 284 hummingbird species, and 15 out-group species spanning four avian orders (McGuire et al. 2014). We then pruned the tree to include only the 281 species included in our global hummingbird distribution data. Sampling includes 101 of 105 currently recognized trochilid genera (lacking only three monotypic genera: Anopetia, Hylonympha, and Sternoclyta, and the bitypic genus Augastes, all with very restricted ranges). Time-calibrated Bayesian phylogenetic analyses were performed using BEAST v1.7.1 (Drummond and Rambaut 2007) with calibrations for divergence dating analyses using substitution rate priors (rather than fossil calibrations) based on rate estimates generated for Hawaiian honeycreepers (Lerner et al. 2011)