Multitrophic diversity in a biodiverse forest is highly nonlinear across spatial scales

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Biodiversity Science
• Conservation Biology

Background:

• Subtropical and tropical forests are critical biodiversity hotspots.
• Spatial scaling of diversity in heterogeneous environments remains poorly understood.
• Accurate biodiversity assessment is crucial for conservation and human well-being.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate scale-dependent diversity distributions across multiple taxa in a mountainous subtropical forest.
• To assess the impact of taxon-specific differences on biodiversity estimations.
• To inform conservation strategies in biodiverse, heterogeneous regions.

Main Methods:

• Analyzed diversity patterns across spatial scales for 43 taxa (plants, arthropods, microorganisms).
• Examined taxon-specific beta-diversity contributions to overall diversity.
• Compared diversity estimations using different surrogate taxa.

Main Results:

• Diversity relations among taxa were highly nonlinear across spatial scales.
• Using surrogate taxa like plants led to under- or overestimation of total diversity by up to 50%.
• Taxon-specific beta-diversity significantly influences biodiversity estimates.

Conclusions:

• Current understanding of biodiversity patterns requires improvement, especially in heterogeneous subtropical forests.
• Larger study areas than in lowland forests are needed for reliable biodiversity estimation.
• Conservation strategies must account for scale-dependent diversity and taxon-specific differences in biodiverse regions.