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<p>Despite growing research on insect decline, long-term temporal analyses integrating functional approaches remain scarce. Understanding how functional traits relate to temporal changes in community composition is particularly important for saproxylic communities, which are highly sensitive to forest environmental changes. In this study, we analysed interannual and spatial changes in the taxonomic and functional dimensions of saproxylic beetle and spider communities inhabiting tree hollows across three Mediterranean forest types (riparian ash forest, deciduous oak forest and sclerophyllous oak woodland). Specimens were sampled monthly using emergence traps during two complete years separated by an 11-year period. We assessed variation in species richness, functional diversity (functional richness and divergence), and functional structure. We also explored whether species-level temporal changes in relative abundance were associated with species’ positions in functional trait space. Beetle and spider species richness differed among forest types and between sampling periods, whereas functional richness varied mainly spatially. Trait-associated shifts in species relative contribution were not consistent across taxa or forests. The clearest trait-associated changes in relative abundance were detected in wood-dependent beetles (saprophagous, saproxylophagous and xylophagous) from <i>Quercus pyrenaica</i> forests, where larger and less dispersive species showed lower relative abundance in the second sampling period. In contrast, there was little evidence of consistent trait-mediated changes in spider assemblages over time. Overall, our results indicate that temporal functional responses of saproxylic arthropod communities are context dependent, varying across forest types and trophic guilds and suggest maintaining structurally complex forests and continuous networks of suitable tree hollows to buffer these communities under ongoing environmental change, specially in <i>Q. pyrenaica</i> forests.</p><p><b>Implications for conservation</b> The present study remarks the importance of integrating functional and taxonomic approaches to provide a more comprehensive understanding of observed community changes at a spatio-temporal scale, helping us to infer which forests may be more vulnerable under ongoing environmental change.</p>

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Spatio-temporal variation of the functional spectrum of saproxylic communities in a Spanish protected natural area under global change

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年4月29日

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  • G. Martínez-Devesa,
  • C. P. Carmona,
  • J. Quinto,
  • S. Martínez-Pérez,
  • J. Hernández-Corral,
  • E. Micó

摘要

Despite growing research on insect decline, long-term temporal analyses integrating functional approaches remain scarce. Understanding how functional traits relate to temporal changes in community composition is particularly important for saproxylic communities, which are highly sensitive to forest environmental changes. In this study, we analysed interannual and spatial changes in the taxonomic and functional dimensions of saproxylic beetle and spider communities inhabiting tree hollows across three Mediterranean forest types (riparian ash forest, deciduous oak forest and sclerophyllous oak woodland). Specimens were sampled monthly using emergence traps during two complete years separated by an 11-year period. We assessed variation in species richness, functional diversity (functional richness and divergence), and functional structure. We also explored whether species-level temporal changes in relative abundance were associated with species’ positions in functional trait space. Beetle and spider species richness differed among forest types and between sampling periods, whereas functional richness varied mainly spatially. Trait-associated shifts in species relative contribution were not consistent across taxa or forests. The clearest trait-associated changes in relative abundance were detected in wood-dependent beetles (saprophagous, saproxylophagous and xylophagous) from Quercus pyrenaica forests, where larger and less dispersive species showed lower relative abundance in the second sampling period. In contrast, there was little evidence of consistent trait-mediated changes in spider assemblages over time. Overall, our results indicate that temporal functional responses of saproxylic arthropod communities are context dependent, varying across forest types and trophic guilds and suggest maintaining structurally complex forests and continuous networks of suitable tree hollows to buffer these communities under ongoing environmental change, specially in Q. pyrenaica forests.

Implications for conservation The present study remarks the importance of integrating functional and taxonomic approaches to provide a more comprehensive understanding of observed community changes at a spatio-temporal scale, helping us to infer which forests may be more vulnerable under ongoing environmental change.