A1 Journal article (refereed)
Do large‐scale associations in birds imply biotic interactions or environmental filtering? (2023)
Elo, M., Kajanus, M. H., Tolvanen, J., Devictor, V., Forsman, J. T., Lehikoinen, A., Mönkkönen, M., Thorson, J. T., Vollstädt, M. G. R., & Kivelä, S. M. (2023). Do large‐scale associations in birds imply biotic interactions or environmental filtering?. Journal of Biogeography, 50(1), 169-182. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14520
JYU authors or editors
Publication details
All authors or editors: Elo, Merja; Kajanus, Mira H.; Tolvanen, Jere; Devictor, Vincent; Forsman, Jukka T.; Lehikoinen, Aleksi; Mönkkönen, Mikko; Thorson, James T.; Vollstädt, Maximilian G. R.; Kivelä, Sami M.
Journal or series: Journal of Biogeography
ISSN: 0305-0270
eISSN: 1365-2699
Publication year: 2023
Publication date: 03/11/2022
Volume: 50
Issue number: 1
Pages range: 169-182
Publisher: Wiley
Publication country: United Kingdom
Publication language: English
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14520
Research data link: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.ht76hdrjh
Publication open access: Openly available
Publication channel open access: Partially open access channel
Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/84044
Abstract
There has been a wide interest in the effect of biotic interactions on species' occurrences and abundances at large spatial scales, coupled with a vast development of the statistical methods to study them. Still, evidence for whether the effects of within-trophic-level biotic interactions (e.g. competition and heterospecific attraction) are discernible beyond local scales remains inconsistent. Here, we present a novel hypothesis-testing framework based on joint dynamic species distribution models and functional trait similarity to dissect between environmental filtering and biotic interactions.
Location
France and Finland.
Taxon
Birds.
Methods
We estimated species-to-species associations within a trophic level, independent of the main environmental variables (mean temperature and total precipitation) for common species at large spatial scale with joint dynamic species distribution (a multivariate spatiotemporal delta model) models. We created hypotheses based on species' functionality (morphological and/or diet dissimilarity) and habitat preferences about the sign and strength of the pairwise spatiotemporal associations to estimate the extent to which they result from biotic interactions (competition, heterospecific attraction) and/or environmental filtering.
Results
Spatiotemporal associations were mostly positive (80%), followed by random (15%), and only 5% were negative. Where detected, negative spatiotemporal associations in different communities were due to a few species. The relationship between spatiotemporal association and functional dissimilarity among species was negative, which fulfils the predictions of both environmental filtering and heterospecific attraction.
Main conclusions
We showed that processes leading to species aggregation (mixture between environmental filtering and heterospecific attraction) seem to dominate assembly rules, and we did not find evidence for competition. Altogether, our hypothesis-testing framework based on joint dynamic species distribution models and functional trait similarity is beneficial in ecological interpretation of species-to-species associations from data covering several decades and biogeographical regions.
Keywords: competition (biology); birds; types and species; occurence; modelling (representation); interaction; environmental factors; biotic communities
Free keywords: competition; functional traits; heterospecific attraction; joint dynamic species distribution models; macroecology; VAST
Contributing organizations
Ministry reporting: Yes
Reporting Year: 2022
Preliminary JUFO rating: 2
