title: Disentangling effects of abiotic factors and biotic interactions on cross-taxon congruence in species turnover patterns of plants, moths and beetles.
abstract: High cross-taxon congruence in species diversity patterns is essential for the use of surrogate taxa in biodiversity conservation, but presence and strength of congruence in species turnover patterns, and the relative contributions of abiotic environmental factors and biotic interaction towards this congruence, remain poorly understood. In our study, we used variation partitioning in multiple regressions to quantify cross-taxon congruence in community dissimilarities of vascular plants, geometrid and arciinid moths and carabid beetles, subsequently investigating their respective underpinning by abiotic factors and biotic interactions. Significant cross-taxon congruence observed across all taxon pairs was linked to their similar responses towards elevation change. Changes in the vegetation composition were closely linked to carabid turnover, with vegetation structure and associated microclimatic conditions proposed causes of this link. In contrast, moth assemblages appeared to be dominated by generalist species whose turnover was weakly associated with vegetation changes. Overall, abiotic factors exerted a stronger influence on cross-taxon congruence across our study sites than biotic interactions. The weak congruence in turnover observed particularly between plants and moths highlights the importance of multi-taxon approaches based on groupings of taxa with similar turnovers, rather than the use of single surrogate taxa or environmental proxies, in biodiversity assessments.
authors.affiliation: College of Agricultural Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.|SAD Paysage, French National Institute of Agronomic Research (INRA), Rennes, France.
authors.forename: Meichun
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.affiliation: College of Agricultural Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yunhui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: College of Agricultural Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhenrong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: SAD Paysage, French National Institute of Agronomic Research (INRA), Rennes, France.
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Baudry
authors.affiliation: College of Agriculture, Hebei Unversity of Engineering, Handan, China.
authors.forename: Liangtao
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, Southwest University for Nationalities, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Changliu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography, University College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Jan C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Axmacher
mesh_terms: D000822:Animal Husbandry; D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D002681:China; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D018556:Crops, Agricultural; D017753:Ecosystem; D019669:Embryophyta / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D000072480:Farms; D049810:Genetic Speciation; D065948:Grassland; D006802:Human Activities; D009036:Moths / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D010575:Pesticides
chemical_list: D010575:Pesticides