Elevational variation of arthropod communities in the Swedish mountains

• Mountain topography gives rise to elevation gradients in both abiotic and biotic conditions, which can generate substantial biodiversity variation. Due to the close link between elevation and climate, mountain areas may be particularly useful for evaluating the ecological consequences of climate change. Arthropods are the most diverse animal phylum and play important roles in most ecosystems. Although arthropods are exposed to multiple stressors and are in global decline, we only have scant information on the distribution of arthropods along elevation gradients. We investigated how taxonomic richness, taxonomic composition, and spatial structuring of spider-, insect-, and springtail communities differed along elevation gradients at three sites in a high latitude mountain area. Taxonomic richness of spiders and insects declined monotonically with increasing elevation, but there were limited differences between sites in such declines. We did not observe any significant relationships between the taxonomic richness of springtails and elevation. Taxonomic composition did vary with elevation for all three taxonomic groups, and it also differed among the three sites. Spider- and insect communities were both spatially nested and showed spatial modularity along the elevation gradients. While the modular patterns suggest that species turnover has generated distinct communities at different elevations, some generalist species were still widespread throughout large parts of the gradients. We observed no spatial structuring in springtail communities along elevation gradients. Our results point to smaller differences among sites than among taxonomic groups in how taxonomic richness and community structuring varied with elevation. We interpret these results as support for taxonomically specific adaptations to environmental conditions being important for structuring arthropod communities. We also suggest that climate-driven changes to arthropod communities in mountain environments may be regulated by two not mutually exclusive processes, one in which generalist species may become more dominant and shift their ranges upward and one which high elevation specialists may go extinct because of increasingly fragmented habitats. 

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Ekologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Ecology (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Zoologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Zoology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Arthropoda

Araneae

Insecta

Collembola

altitude

latitude

mountain ecology

species richness

species composition

spatial structure

taxonomic diversity

Ecology and Evolution

ekologi och evolution

Entomology

entomologi

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

ovr (ämneskategori)