The role of climate, water and biotic interactions in shaping biodiversity patterns in arid environments across spatial scales

Aim: Desert ecosystems, with their harsh environmental conditions, hold the key to understanding the responses of biodiversity to climate change. As desert community structure is influenced by processes acting at different spatial scales, studies combining multiple scales are essential for understanding the conservation requirements of desert biota. We investigated the role of environmental variables and biotic interactions in shaping broad and fine-scale patterns of diversity and distribution of bats in arid environments to understand how the expansion of nondesert species can affect the long-term conservation of desert biodiversity.

Location: Levant, Eastern Mediterranean.

Methods: We combine species distribution modelling and niche overlap statistics with a statistical model selection approach to integrate interspecific interactions into broadscale distribution models and fine-scale analysis of ecological requirements. We focus on competition between desert bats and mesic spec...