Process-based species pools reveal the hidden signature of biotic interactions amid the influence of temperature filtering

A persistent challenge in ecology is to tease apart the influence of multiple processes acting simultaneously and interacting in complex ways to shape the structure of species assemblages. We implement a heuristic approach that relies on explicitly defining species pools and permits assessment of the relative influence of the main processes thought to shape assemblage structure: environmental filtering, dispersal limitations and biotic interactions. We illustrate our approach using data on the assemblage composition and geographic distribution of hummingbirds, a comprehensive phylogeny and morphological traits. The implementation of several process-based species pool definitions in null models suggests that temperature, but not precipitation or dispersal limitation, acts as the main regional filter of assemblage structure. Incorporating this environmental filter directly into the definition of assemblage-specific species pools revealed an otherwise hidden pattern of phylogenetic evennes...生态学领域一项长期存在的核心挑战，在于如何厘清同时作用并以复杂方式相互影响、共同塑造物种种组（species assemblage）结构的多重过程的影响效应。我们提出了一种启发式方法（heuristic approach），该方法依托明确界定物种类群库（species pool），能够量化评估被认为塑造物种种组结构的三类主要过程的相对影响：环境过滤（environmental filtering）、扩散限制（dispersal limitation）与生物相互作用（biotic interactions）。我们以蜂鸟的物种种组组成、地理分布数据，以及全面的系统发育树与形态性状数据集为示例，演示了该方法的应用。在零模型（null model）中引入多种基于过程的物种类群库定义方式后，结果表明：温度而非降水或扩散限制，是调控物种种组结构形成的主要区域过滤因子。将该环境过滤因子直接纳入专属物种种组的类群库定义后，我们得以揭示此前被掩盖的系统发育均匀度（phylogenetic evenness）潜在模式……