Multiple facets of stream macroinvertebrate alpha diversity are driven by different ecological factors across an extensive altitudinal gradient

Environmental filtering and spatial structuring are important ecological processes for the generation and maintenance of biodiversity. However, the relative importance of these ecological drivers for multiple facets of diversity is still poorly understood in highland streams. Here, we examined the responses of three facets of stream macroinvertebrate alpha diversity to local environmental, landscape‐climate and spatial factors in a near‐pristine highland riverine ecosystem. Taxonomic (species richness, Shannon diversity, and evenness), functional (functional richness, evenness, divergence, and Rao's Quadratic entropy), and a proxy of phylogenetic alpha diversity (taxonomic distinctness and variation in taxonomic distinctness) were calculated for macroinvertebrate assemblages in 55 stream sites. Then Pearson correlation coefficient was used to explore congruence of indices within and across the three diversity facets. Finally, multiple linear regression models and variation partitioning were employed to identify the relative importance of different ecological drivers of biodiversity. We found most correlations between the diversity indices within the same facet, and between functional richness and species richness were relatively strong. The two phylogenetic diversity indices were quite independent from taxonomic diversity but correlated with functional diversity indices to some extent. Taxonomic and functional diversity were more strongly determined by environmental variables, while phylogenetic diversity was better explained by spatial factors. In terms of environmental variables, habitat‐scale variables describing habitat complexity and water physical features played the primary role in determining the diversity patterns of all three facets, whereas landscape factors appeared less influential. Our findings indicated that both environmental and spatial factors are important ecological drivers for biodiversity patterns of macroinvertebrates in Tibetan streams, although their relative importance was contingent on different facets of diversity. Such findings verified the complementary roles of taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity, and highlighted the importance of comprehensively considering multiple ecological drivers for different facets of diversity in biodiversity assessment.     

Trait and phylogenetic diversity provide insights into community assembly of reef‐associated shrimps (Palaemonidae) at different spatial scales across the Chagos Archipelago

Coral reefs are the most biodiverse marine ecosystem and one of the most threatened by global climate change impacts. The vast majority of diversity on reefs is comprised of small invertebrates that live within the reef structure, termed the cryptofauna. This component of biodiversity is hugely understudied, and many species remain undescribed. This study represents a rare analysis of assembly processes structuring a distinct group of cryptofauna, the Palaemonidae, in the Chagos Archipelago, a reef ecosystem under minimal direct human impacts in the central Indian Ocean. The Palaemonidae are a diverse group of Caridae (infraorder of shrimps) that inhabit many different niches on coral reefs and are of particular interest because of their varied habitat associations. Phylogenetic and trait diversity and phylogenetic signal were used to infer likely drivers of community structure. The mechanisms driving palaemonid community assembly and maintenance in the Chagos Archipelago showed distinct spatial patterns. At local scales, among coral colonies and among reefs fringing individual atolls, significant trait, and phylogenetic clustering patterns suggest environmental filtering may be a dominant ecological process driving Palaemonidae community structure, although local competition through equalizing mechanisms may also play a role in shaping the local community structure. Importantly, we also tested the robustness of phylogenetic diversity to changes in evolutionary information as multi‐gene phylogenies are resource intensive and for large families, such as the Palaemonidae, are often incomplete. These tests demonstrated a very modest impact on phylogenetic community structure, with only one of the four genes (PEPCK gene) in the phylogeny affecting phylogenetic diversity patterns, which provides useful information for future studies on large families with incomplete phylogenies. These findings contribute to our limited knowledge of this component of biodiversity in a marine locality as close to undisturbed by humans as can be found. It also provides a rare evaluation of phylogenetic diversity methods.     

华北区域环境梯度上阔叶林构建模式及分布成因

森林群落的构建即多样性维持机制是当今生态学研究的热点问题。然而, 当前群落构建和群落多样性的研究多在间接梯度上进行, 而在水、热等影响物种在区域内定植的关键且直接的环境梯度上研究群落构建和多样性模式则鲜有报道。结合环境因子, 基于物种组成和谱系方法探讨不同群落的分布成因, 有助于解释群落构建过程中的关键问题。该研究基于华北森林群落调查数据和环境数据, 涉及7个省市区的29个以壳斗科、桦木科为优势种的群落, 探讨了直接环境梯度上的群落构建和多样性模式, 同时用典范对应分析研究了不同群落分布的环境解释。结果发现, 相似的群落具有相似的生境偏好, 相似的生境条件会形成物种组成相同或相似的群落。环境热量主导了本区域的谱系关系, 在年平均气温较低的地区, 群落构建主要表现为生境过滤的模式。此外, 随着年降水量的增加, 生境过滤作用逐渐增加。在温度梯度上, 谱系多样性表现为钟形模式, 而降水量的增加能导致谱系多样性的增加。     

Environment differentially affects the functional and phylogenetic structures of plant communities in a dry evergreen Afromontane tropical forest

Testing how local environmental conditions influence plant community assembly is important to understand the underlying mechanisms that promote and/or maintain biodiversity. Functional traits are used to find the broad spectrum of resource use strategies that plants use to respond to environmental variation. The patterns and drivers of plant community assembly through the lens of traits and phylogeny; however, remain to be studied in a uniquely biodiversity rich but poorly known fragmented dry Afromontane forest of Ethiopia. Here, we combined trait and community phylogenetic data from thirty sampling plots of 20 × 20 m size to determine the functional and phylogenetic structures and their drivers in a fragmented, human-dominated dry evergreen Afromontane forest. We found phylogenetic and functional clustering of plants in which the effect of environment was found to be trait specific. A weak phylogenetic signal for traits was detected suggesting that species resource use strategies may not be inferred using species phylogenetic distance. Additionally, we found functional traits to be weak in predicting species abundance distribution. Overall, while this study shows a non-random community assembly pattern, it also highlights the importance of deterministic processes being trait specific.     

Identifying the patterns of changes in α‐ and β‐diversity across Dacrydium pectinatum communities in Hainan Island,China

Exploring vegetation distribution spatial patterns facilitates understanding how biodiversity addresses the potential threat of future climate variability, especially for highly diverse and threatened tropical plant communities, but few empirical studies have been performed. Dacrydium pectinatum is a constructive and endangered species in the tropical mountain forests of Hainan Island, China. In this study, sixty‐eight 30 m × 30 m permanent plots of D. pectinatum were investigated, and species‐based and phylogenetic‐based methods were used to analyze the α‐ and β‐diversity pattern variation and its key drivers. Our study showed that species and phylogenetic α‐diversity patterns are different on a local scale. However, on a regional scale, the variations in the two α‐diversity patterns tend to converge, and they decrease with increasing elevation. The phylogenetic structure changes from overdispersion to convergence with increasing elevation. Soil (SOM, TP, AP), topography (EL, SL), and stand (CD) factors and α‐diversity showed close correlations. Species and phylogenetic β‐diversity have significant positive correlations with changing environmental distance and geographical distance; however, as a representative form of habitat heterogeneity, elevation distance has a greater impact on β‐diversity changes than geographical distance. In conclusion, the α‐ and β‐diversity patterns of the D. pectinatum community are mainly related to habitat filtering, especially in high‐elevation areas, and the colonization history of various regions also affects the formation of diversity patterns. Species‐based and phylogenetic‐based methods robustly demonstrated the key role of the habitat filtering hypothesis in community assembly. We believe that more plant diversity patterns need to be explored to understand the biodiversity formation mechanisms in tropical forests. We also recommend strengthening the construction and management of nature reserves to help address the biodiversity loss crisis in endangered tropical plant communities.     

Functional diversity across space and time: trends in wader communities on British estuaries

Aim British estuarine ecosystems support large populations of protected migratory waders. Understanding how wader communities vary spatially and how they may be changing temporally can greatly improve the understanding of these dynamic ecosystems. Here, we explore the variation in functional diversity (using a range of morphological and ecological traits) in order to identify the processes shaping wader communities on British estuaries and how these processes may be changing. Location England, Wales and Scotland. Methods We use national survey data (Wetland Bird Survey) from 1980/1981 to 2006/2007 winter to calculate functional diversity (FD) – an index that measures trait dispersion – in wader communities on 100 estuaries. We test for evidence of non‐random patterns of diversity and explore the relative importance of two key processes, environmental filtering and competition, in shaping these communities. Results The observed FD was significantly and positively associated with species richness and to a lesser extent estuary area, followed by longitude. An increase in observed FD was observed since 1980, supported by a small but significant slope. In the majority of cases, changes in FD were mirrored by changes in species richness. Observed FD was on average lower than expected by chance, as indicated by a negative value of observed minus expected FD. However, this difference became less negative over time, with observed minus expected FD values increasing slightly, but significantly, over the study period. Main conclusions Wader FD varies across British estuaries, and the relative influence of the processes by which communities are structured appears to be changing through time. We discuss the potential drivers underlying these patterns and the importance of identifying such drivers for the protection of wader communities.     

Using functional traits to investigate the determinants of crustacean zooplankton community structure

Understanding the various processes contributing to community assembly is among the central aims of ecology. As a means of exploring this topic we quantified the relative influences of habitat filtering and competition in establishing patterns of community functional trait diversity across a landscape of lakes. Habitat filtering has been invoked in shaping community structure when co‐occurring taxa are more similar in their traits than expected by chance (under‐dispersion), and competition has been inferred as a structuring agent when co‐occurring taxa are less similar (over‐dispersion). We tested these hypotheses in crustacean zooplankton communities using a functional trait‐based approach based on five traits defining zooplankton feeding and habitat preferences across 51 lakes spanning several large limnological gradients. In general, zooplankton communities were functionally less diverse than random assemblages created from the same regional species pool. Furthermore, functional diversity was strongly correlated with variables related to lake productivity, suggesting that access to resources was the chief habitat filtering process constraining zooplankton functional diversity. This pattern was driven by the predominantly herbivorous cladocerans as opposed to the more commonly omnivorous, and sometimes carnivorous, copepods.     

Seasonal dynamics of waterbird assembly mechanisms revealed by patterns in phylogenetic and functional diversity in a subtropical wetland

Despite growing interest in using phylogenetic and functional methods to understand community assembly, few studies have examined how these methods can be used to assess seasonal variation in assembly mechanisms among migrant species. Migration can rapidly alter the relative influence of stochastic processes, species interactions, or environmental factors in shaping communities across seasons. Here, we describe seasonal dynamics in the phylogenetic and functional diversity of waterbirds in Mai Po Wetland, a subtropical region with significant and predictable temporal variation in climate and migratory bird density. Phylogenetic α diversity varied seasonally, exhibiting a clustered structure (indicative of environmental filtering) in summer, and over‐dispersed structure (indicative of biotic filtering) in winter. Phylogenetic diversity in spring and autumn exhibited a more intermediate, random structure, consistent with stochastic arrivals and departures of migrants. Functional diversity was clustered in spring but showed over‐dispersion in the other three seasons. Phylogenetic β diversity in summer and winter assemblages was characterized by two distinct groups, while spring and autumn assemblages were mixed. Our results suggest that waterbird assemblages were primarily shaped by interspecific competition in winter, while random processes tended to shape assemblages in spring and fall. Environmental factors played a more important role in summer, during periods of high heat stress. In addition, species co‐occurrence patterns were significantly more strongly related to phylogenetic similarity in winter than in summer. Our results suggest that the relative importance of assemblage mechanisms can vary seasonally in response to changing environmental conditions, suggesting that studies attempting to infer a single dominant assembly mechanism may ignore important assembly processes. Temporal shifts in assembly mechanisms may play an important role in maintaining diversity in subtropical and temperate wetlands and perhaps also in other dynamic systems.     

Facilitation can increase the phylogenetic diversity of plant communities

With the advent of molecular phylogenies the assessment of community assembly processes has become a central topic in community ecology. These processes have focused almost exclusively on habitat filtering and competitive exclusion. Recent evidence, however, indicates that facilitation has been important in preserving biodiversity over evolutionary time, with recent lineages conserving the regeneration niches of older, distant lineages. Here we test whether, if facilitation among distant-related species has preserved the regeneration niche of plant lineages, this has increased the phylogenetic diversity of communities. By analyzing a large worldwide database of species, we showed that the regeneration niches were strongly conserved across evolutionary history. Likewise, a phylogenetic supertree of all species of three communities driven by facilitation showed that nurse species facilitated distantly related species and increased phylogenetic diversity.     

Contrasting changes in the abundance and diversity of North American bird assemblages from 1971 to 2010

Although it is generally recognized that global biodiversity is declining, few studies have examined long‐term changes in multiple biodiversity dimensions simultaneously. In this study, we quantified and compared temporal changes in the abundance, taxonomic diversity, functional diversity, and phylogenetic diversity of bird assemblages, using roadside monitoring data of the North American Breeding Bird Survey from 1971 to 2010. We calculated 12 abundance and diversity metrics based on 5‐year average abundances of 519 species for each of 768 monitoring routes. We did this for all bird species together as well as for four subgroups based on breeding habitat affinity (grassland, woodland, wetland, and shrubland breeders). The majority of the biodiversity metrics increased or remained constant over the study period, whereas the overall abundance of birds showed a pronounced decrease, primarily driven by declines of the most abundant species. These results highlight how stable or even increasing metrics of taxonomic, functional, or phylogenetic diversity may occur in parallel with substantial losses of individuals. We further found that patterns of change differed among the species subgroups, with both abundance and diversity increasing for woodland birds and decreasing for grassland breeders. The contrasting changes between abundance and diversity and among the breeding habitat groups underscore the relevance of a multifaceted approach to measuring biodiversity change. Our findings further stress the importance of monitoring the overall abundance of individuals in addition to metrics of taxonomic, functional, or phylogenetic diversity, thus confirming the importance of population abundance as an essential biodiversity variable.     

Contrasting patterns and drivers in taxonomic versus functional diversity,and community assembly of aquatic plants in subtropical lakes

Little is known about the differences in patterns and drivers between species richness (SR) and functional diversity (FD) in aquatic plants at large scales, and the underlying assembly mechanisms are not well studied. We compared SR and FD patterns of aquatic plant assemblages in 29 subtropical lakes, and detected the underlying assembly rules. Environmental drivers of SR and FD were revealed by GLM and GAM models, and the relative importance of assembly rules was determined by a null model approach. SR and FD of aquatic plants presented different patterns and drivers in this region. SR was significantly correlated with geographic, hydrological and water quality variables. We found a lower functional richness but higher functional evenness and divergence in the highland lakes. There was no significant correlation between functional richness and environmental variables. Null model analyses showed that most values of standardized effect size were located between the confidence interval, indicating a dominance of randomness. Deterministic processes such as limiting similarity and habitat filtering were also important in individual lakes. Habitat filtering plays a stronger role shaping the hydrophyte assemblages especially with the increase of elevation, area and AWLF (amplitude of water level fluctuation). Our results demonstrated that FD, in contrast to SR, were more resistant to environmental variations, and hydrology played an important role in shaping both SR and FD patterns in lake ecosystems. Furthermore, we revealed complex assembly rules and emphasized the importance of both stochastic and deterministic mechanisms in structuring aquatic plant assemblages at the regional scale.     

放牧干扰梯度下川西亚高山植物群落的组合机理

为了阐明放牧干扰对川西亚高山区域植物群落的组合过程以及群落结构的影响, 研究了放牧干扰梯度下的功能群均匀度和群落谱系结构的变化趋势。结果显示: 在干扰较轻的阔叶林与针叶林样地, 部分样方的功能群均匀度显著高于无效模型, 随着干扰梯度的增强, 功能群均匀度呈线性下降, 样方平均值从0.930降至0.840, 其高于无效模型的次数也逐渐降低, 干扰程度较大的草甸中出现部分样方的功能群均匀度显著低于无效模型。随着干扰程度的增强, 群落的谱系结构指数也呈逐渐上升趋势, 净关联指数平均值由-0.634逐渐增加至2.360, 邻近类群指数由-0.158上升至2.179。草甸与低矮灌丛受干扰较为严重, 其大部分样方的谱系结构指数显著高于随机群落, 表明干扰群落的谱系结构呈聚集分布。功能群均匀度与谱系结构的变化趋势一致, 表明生境筛滤效应与种间竞争作用的平衡决定着群落的组合过程。干扰降低了竞争作用, 促进了少数耐干扰功能群的优势地位, 造成功能群均匀度下降, 同时通过生境筛滤作用, 使群落的谱系结构呈现出聚集分布; 而未干扰的群落中由于竞争作用的效应, 功能群均匀度较高, 谱系结构也更加分散。研究区域植物群落的功能群均匀度与物种丰富度呈负相关, 表明物种间特别是相似物种间的竞争限制了群落的物种多样性。研究结果说明, 生态位分化和物种间的相互竞争在物种共存与群落组合中具有重要作用。     

Discriminating ecological processes affecting different dimensions of α‐ and β‐diversity in desert plant communities

Understanding the spatial distribution of plant diversity and its drivers are major challenges in biogeography and conservation biology. Integrating multiple facets of biodiversity (e.g., taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional biodiversity) may advance our understanding on how community assembly processes drive the distribution of biodiversity. In this study, plant communities in 60 sampling plots in desert ecosystems were investigated. The effects of local environment and spatial factors on the species, functional, and phylogenetic α‐ and β‐diversity (including turnover and nestedness components) of desert plant communities were investigated. The results showed that functional and phylogenetic α‐diversity were negatively correlated with species richness, and were significantly positively correlated with each other. Environmental filtering mainly influenced species richness and Rao quadratic entropy; phylogenetic α‐diversity was mainly influenced by dispersal limitation. Species and phylogenetic β‐diversity were mainly consisted of turnover component. The functional β‐diversity and its turnover component were mainly influenced by environmental factors, while dispersal limitation dominantly effected species and phylogenetic β‐diversity and their turnover component of species and phylogenetic β‐diversity. Soil organic carbon and soil pH significantly influenced different dimensions of α‐diversity, and soil moisture, salinity, organic carbon, and total nitrogen significantly influenced different dimensions of α‐ and β‐diversity and their components. Overall, it appeared that the relative influence of environmental and spatial factors on taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity differed at the α and β scales. Quantifying α‐ and β‐diversity at different biodiversity dimensions can help researchers to more accurately assess patterns of diversity and community assembly.     

Dissecting spatiotemporal patterns of functional diversity through the lens of Darwin's naturalization conundrum

Darwin's naturalization conundrum describes the paradigm that community assembly is regulated by two opposing processes, environmental filtering and competitive interactions, which predict both similarity and distinctiveness of species to be important for establishment. Our goal is to use long‐term, large‐scale, and high‐resolution temporal data to examine diversity patterns over time and assess whether environmental filtering or competition plays a larger role in regulating community assembly processes. We evaluated Darwin's naturalization conundrum and how functional diversity has changed in the Laurentian Great Lakes fish community from 1870 to 2010, which has experienced frequent introductions of non‐native species and extirpations of native species. We analyzed how functional diversity has changed over time by decade from 1870 to 2010 at three spatial scales (regional, lake, and habitat) to account for potential noninteractions between species at the regional and lake level. We also determined which process, environmental filtering or competitive interactions, is more important in regulating community assembly and maintenance by comparing observed patterns to what we would expect in the absence of an ecological mechanism. With the exception of one community, all analyses show that functional diversity and species richness has increased over time and that environmental filtering regulates community assembly at the regional level. When examining functional diversity at the lake and habitat level, the regulating processes become more context dependent. This study is the first to examine diversity patterns and Darwin's conundrum by integrating long‐term, large‐scale, and high‐resolution temporal data at multiple spatial scales. Our results confirm that Darwin's conundrum is highly context dependent.     

沿海拔梯度变化的哀牢山亚热带森林群落系统发育结构

为揭示森林群落系统发育结构在海拔梯度上的变化及其驱动因素, 本研究以云南哀牢山西坡的亚热带森林群落为研究对象, 以APG III系统为基础框架, 结合DNA条形码序列信息解决末端分类单元亲缘关系的方法, 构建了哀牢山森林群落系统发育进化树, 采用净亲缘指数(net relatedness index, NRI)和最近亲缘指数(nearest taxon index, NTI), 探讨了不同植被类型的森林群落系统发育结构和沿海拔梯度的变化规律。结果表明, 从整体的海拔变化趋势上来看, 哀牢山森林群落系统发育结构随海拔上升由系统发育聚集(phylogenetic clustering)走向发散(phylogenetic overdispersion)或聚集程度降低。在低海拔地区, 群落表现为系统发育聚集, 表明生态位理论中的生境过滤作用在群落构建和生物多样性的维持中起着主导作用; 在中海拔地区, 出现了聚集与发散两种群落系统发育结构并存的现象, 推测可能是生境过滤和竞争排斥两种生态过程共同作用的结果; 在高海拔地区, 群落的系统发育结构因选择的指数不同而出现相反的结果, NRI表现出系统发育聚集, 而NTI却表现为随机或发散, 考虑到高海拔地区的环境胁迫可能促使植物发生趋同进化, 推测其群落构建的生态学过程需要更为综合的研究。本研究揭示群落系统发育结构沿海拔梯度确实存在显著的变化, 证明在生态群落的构建过程中非随机过程起到促进乃至关键作用。     

Spatial mismatch in morphological,ecological and phylogenetic diversity,in historical and contemporary European freshwater fish faunas

Biodiversity encompasses multiple facets, among which taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic aspects are the most often considered. Understanding how those diversity facets are distributed and what are their determinants has become a central concern in the current context of biodiversity crisis, but such multi‐faceted measures over large geographical areas are still pending. Here, we measured the congruence between the biogeographical patterns of freshwater fish morphological, ecological and phylogenetic diversity across Europe and identified the natural and anthropogenic drivers shaping those patterns. Based on freshwater fish occurrence records in 290 European river catchments, we computed richness and evenness for morphological, ecological and phylogenetic diversity using standardized effect sizes for each diversity index. We then used linear models including climatic, geo‐morphological, biotic and human‐related factors to determine the key drivers shaping freshwater fish biodiversity patterns across Europe. We found a weak spatial congruence between facets of diversity. Patterns of diversity were mainly driven by elevation range, climatic seasonality and species richness while other factors played a minor role. Finally, we found that non‐native species introductions significantly affected diversity patterns and influenced the effects of some environmental drivers. Morphological, ecological and phylogenetic diversity constitute complementary facets of fish diversity rather than surrogates, testifying that they deserve to be considered altogether to properly assess biodiversity. Although the same environmental and anthropogenic factors overall explained those diversity facets, their relative influence varied. In the current context of global change, non‐native species introductions may also lead to important reshuffling of assemblages resulting in profound changes of diversity patterns.     

Untangling the assembly of littoral macroinvertebrate communities through measures of functional and phylogenetic alpha diversity

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The role of dominant prairie species ecotypes on plant diversity patterns of restored grasslands across a rainfall gradient in the US Great Plains

Questions

A robust ecosystem requires a functionally heterogeneous community of organisms with ecological traits that permit broad resource partitioning. Understanding community diversity patterns can help investigate drivers of community assembly and assess restoration success. Do biodiversity patterns differ among grassland communities sown with different ecotypes of dominant species during restoration along a rainfall gradient in the tallgrass prairie of the central US Great Plains?

Location

Four field sites across a rainfall gradient within the North American Great Plains: Colby, Kansas (39°23′17.8″N, 101°04′57.4″W), Hays, Kansas (38°51′13.2″N, 99°19′08.6″W), Manhattan, Kansas (39°08′22.3″N, 96°38′23.3″W), and Carbondale, Illinois (IL, 37°41′47.0″N, 89°14′19.2″W).

Methods

We applied linear mixed models to assess the effect of dominant species ecotype, year, and location on grassland taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity.

Results

The non-local grass ecotype (compared to the local ecotype) promoted species richness. In contrast, the effect of the dominant species ecotype on phylogenetic or functional diversity was site-specific over the 10-year restoration. Richness decreased across the rainfall gradient from dry to moist sites, and the wettest site had the highest phylogenetic and functional diversity.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that abiotic filtering by rainfall is a key assembly mechanism that could predict grassland changes in biodiversity in the early restoration phases. Given the community response across the tallgrass prairie, restoration practitioners should consider the impact of regional sources of dominant species used in restoration when biodiversity is a restoration goal. It is recommended for future grassland restoration to detect gaps and limitations in evolutionary and trait structure that will reveal which diversity components to evaluate.     

Top predators determine how biodiversity is partitioned across time and space

Natural ecosystems are shaped along two fundamental axes, space and time, but how biodiversity is partitioned along both axes is not well understood. Here, we show that the relationship between temporal and spatial biodiversity patterns can vary predictably according to habitat characteristics. By quantifying seasonal and annual changes in larval dragonfly communities across a natural predation gradient we demonstrate that variation in the identity of top predator species is associated with systematic differences in spatio‐temporal β‐diversity patterns, leading to consistent differences in relative partitioning of biodiversity between time and space across habitats. As the size of top predators increased (from invertebrates to fish) habitats showed lower species turnover across sites and years, but relatively larger seasonal turnover within a site, which ultimately shifted the relative partitioning of biodiversity across time and space. These results extend community assembly theory by identifying common mechanisms that link spatial and temporal patterns of β‐diversity.