Positive relationships between interspecific association strength and elevational range overlap highlight the role of facilitation in community assembly
- 1Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science
Abstract
The interplay of abiotic conditions and biotic interactions determines individual species' ranges, and by extension therefore, community assembly. To date, studies have focused predominantly on abiotic filtering (e.g., temperature) and agonistic interactions (e.g., competition) as potential drivers of community assembly; the role of facilitation in setting geographical range limits and structuring communities remains unclear. We tested how participation in compositionally distinct modules of facilitative networks of interactions in mixed-species bird flocks (MSFs) influenced interspecific elevational range overlaps across a 2000m elevational gradient in the hyperdiverse Eastern Himalaya. Species that participated in MSFs had higher average elevational range overlap compared with MSF non-participants. Positive correlations between pairwise association strength in MSFs and elevational range overlap were found for all MSF modules. We highlight the potential role of facilitation in determining species co-occurrence patterns and assembling communities across large spatial gradients.
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BibTeX
@misc{mondal2026positive,
title = {{Positive relationships between interspecific association strength and elevational range overlap highlight the role of facilitation in community assembly}},
author = {S. Mondal and S. Rai and B. Tamang and A. Biswakarma and D. K. Pradhan and M. Rai and A. Thapa and D. Tamang and K. Pradhan and V. Rai and U. Srinivasan},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.64898/2026.11.06.764909},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.11.06.764909v1},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Positive relationships between interspecific association strength and elevational range overlap highlight the role of facilitation in community assembly
AU - S. Mondal
AU - S. Rai
AU - B. Tamang
AU - A. Biswakarma
AU - D. K. Pradhan
AU - M. Rai
AU - A. Thapa
AU - D. Tamang
AU - K. Pradhan
AU - V. Rai
AU - U. Srinivasan
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/06
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.11.06.764909
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.11.06.764909v1
AB - The interplay of abiotic conditions and biotic interactions determines individual species' ranges, and by extension therefore, community assembly. To date, studies have focused predominantly on abiotic filtering (e.g., temperature) and agonistic interactions (e.g., competition) as potential drivers of community assembly; the role of facilitation in setting geographical range limits and structuring communities remains unclear. We tested how participation in compositionally distinct modules of facilitative networks of interactions in mixed-species bird flocks (MSFs) influenced interspecific elevational range overlaps across a 2000m elevational gradient in the hyperdiverse Eastern Himalaya. Species that participated in MSFs had higher average elevational range overlap compared with MSF non-participants. Positive correlations between pairwise association strength in MSFs and elevational range overlap were found for all MSF modules. We highlight the potential role of facilitation in determining species co-occurrence patterns and assembling communities across large spatial gradients.
ER -