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Environmental heterogeneity, rather than stability, explains spider assemblage differences between ecosystems

Suárez, Daniel1; Emerson, Brent1; Arribas, Paula1; Meier, Rudolf2; Srivathsan, Amrita2

Published Aug 16, 2024 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.qrfj6q5r7

Data files

Aug 16, 2024 version files 493.90 KB

Abstract

Open ecosystems (e.g., grasslands, prairies, shrublands) tend to be ecologically less stable than closed ones (i.e., forests) and encompass higher spatial heterogeneity in terms of environmental diversity. Such differences are expected to differentially constrain the diversity and structure of the communities that inhabit each of them, but identifying the specific processes driving contrasting biodiversity patterns between open and closed systems is challenging. In order to understand how environmental variability might structure spider assemblages, both between and within open and closed ecosystems, we implement a high throughput multiplex barcode sequencing approach to generate a dataset for 8585 specimens representing 168 species, across open ecosystems within the Canary Islands. Combining these with spider sequences from closed ecosystems within the same islands, we show that spider communities in open ecosystems show higher species richness, higher beta diversity, and higher proportions of rare species but proportionately lower numbers of endemic species than communities in closed ecosystems. We furthermore assess if environmental heterogeneity and habitat stability are the major drivers of such differences by assessing spatial genetic structuring and the influence of bioclimatic variables. Our results point to environmental heterogeneity rather than stability as a major driver of spatial patterns between open and closed ecosystems.