Temporal stasis in three facets of biodiversity reveals mechanisms of community assembly across elevation gradients
- 1Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
Abstract
Understanding spatial and temporal variation in community composition is central to protecting and monitoring biodiversity. Similarity in the composition of two communities decreases along spatial and temporal gradients, a relationship known as distance decay. Comparing distance-decay relationships across taxonomic, functional, and bioclimatic facets of diversity provides a means of interrogating niche-based versus neutral influences on community assembly. Furthermore, the context in which these facets yield overlapping or complementary information about global change impacts remains poorly understood. In this study, we examined spatiotemporal distance-decay relationships for taxonomic, functional, and bioclimatic facets of alpine plant diversity leveraging elevation gradients on five peaks in the White Mountains, California, USA, sampled at 3-4 time points between 2007 and 2024. Using multivariate Bayesian beta regression models, we estimated the slopes of elevation distance decay over multiple surveys and across taxonomic, functional and bioclimatic diversity to understand how spatial distance-decay relationships are changing through time and across different facets of diversity. We found strong spatial distance decay of taxonomic similarity across all peaks, with the highest elevation peak showing the strongest decay. Functional and bioclimatic similarities decayed more weakly than taxonomic similarity, suggesting environmental filtering shapes trait and niche distributions. Critically, spatial decay patterns showed no temporal signal across facets of diversity, indicating community stasis rather than biotic homogenization or differentiation. This study adds further evidence that xeric alpine plant communities are resisting climate change impacts through time.
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BibTeX
@misc{goff2026temporal,
title = {{Temporal stasis in three facets of biodiversity reveals mechanisms of community assembly across elevation gradients}},
author = {K. A. Goff and M. J. Koontz and C. Laufenberg and S. Meng and M. Reiss and C. Bishop and J. Bishop and M. T. Burke and B. V. Smithers and M. F. Oldfather and S. N. Sheth},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.05.756846},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.05.756846v1},
note = {CC0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Temporal stasis in three facets of biodiversity reveals mechanisms of community assembly across elevation gradients
AU - K. A. Goff
AU - M. J. Koontz
AU - C. Laufenberg
AU - S. Meng
AU - M. Reiss
AU - C. Bishop
AU - J. Bishop
AU - M. T. Burke
AU - B. V. Smithers
AU - M. F. Oldfather
AU - S. N. Sheth
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/05
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.05.756846
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.05.756846v1
AB - Understanding spatial and temporal variation in community composition is central to protecting and monitoring biodiversity. Similarity in the composition of two communities decreases along spatial and temporal gradients, a relationship known as distance decay. Comparing distance-decay relationships across taxonomic, functional, and bioclimatic facets of diversity provides a means of interrogating niche-based versus neutral influences on community assembly. Furthermore, the context in which these facets yield overlapping or complementary information about global change impacts remains poorly understood. In this study, we examined spatiotemporal distance-decay relationships for taxonomic, functional, and bioclimatic facets of alpine plant diversity leveraging elevation gradients on five peaks in the White Mountains, California, USA, sampled at 3-4 time points between 2007 and 2024. Using multivariate Bayesian beta regression models, we estimated the slopes of elevation distance decay over multiple surveys and across taxonomic, functional and bioclimatic diversity to understand how spatial distance-decay relationships are changing through time and across different facets of diversity. We found strong spatial distance decay of taxonomic similarity across all peaks, with the highest elevation peak showing the strongest decay. Functional and bioclimatic similarities decayed more weakly than taxonomic similarity, suggesting environmental filtering shapes trait and niche distributions. Critically, spatial decay patterns showed no temporal signal across facets of diversity, indicating community stasis rather than biotic homogenization or differentiation. This study adds further evidence that xeric alpine plant communities are resisting climate change impacts through time.
ER -