Seasonal variation in a diverse beetle assemblage along two elevational gradients in the Australian Wet Tropics

Abstract Altered abiotic conditions resulting from human-induced climate change are already driving changes in the spatial and temporal distributions of many organisms. For insects, how species are distributed across elevations is relatively well known, but data on their seasonality at different ele...

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Autores principales:	C. W. Wardhaugh, M. J. Stone, N. E. Stork
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2018
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/48f629fb7ec042b4b2efc3e41de0e1fe
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:48f629fb7ec042b4b2efc3e41de0e1fe2021-12-02T15:08:51ZSeasonal variation in a diverse beetle assemblage along two elevational gradients in the Australian Wet Tropics10.1038/s41598-018-26216-82045-2322https://doaj.org/article/48f629fb7ec042b4b2efc3e41de0e1fe2018-06-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-26216-8https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Altered abiotic conditions resulting from human-induced climate change are already driving changes in the spatial and temporal distributions of many organisms. For insects, how species are distributed across elevations is relatively well known, but data on their seasonality at different elevations are lacking. Here we show seasonal variation in beetle abundance and species richness along two spatially-distinct elevational transects (350–1000 m and 100–1000 m asl) in the rainforests of northern Australia. Temperature was the best predictor of temporal abundance and species richness patterns, while rainfall had little influence. Elevation had little effect on seasonal changes in abundance or diversity. Adults of most beetle species exhibited long season-lengths (>6 months of the year) with distinct peaks in abundance during the summer wet-season. We found evidence of phenotypic variation among the more widespread species, with seasonal peaks in abundance often not coinciding across elevations or transects. Due to the wide elevational range of most species, and the lack of consistency in the seasonality of wide-spread individual species, we suggest that many beetles inhabiting the low to mid-elevation mountains in the Wet Tropics, and potentially other tropical rainforests, are not as vulnerable to extinction due to climate change as many other organisms.C. W. WardhaughM. J. StoneN. E. StorkNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 8, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2018)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q C. W. Wardhaugh M. J. Stone N. E. Stork Seasonal variation in a diverse beetle assemblage along two elevational gradients in the Australian Wet Tropics
description	Abstract Altered abiotic conditions resulting from human-induced climate change are already driving changes in the spatial and temporal distributions of many organisms. For insects, how species are distributed across elevations is relatively well known, but data on their seasonality at different elevations are lacking. Here we show seasonal variation in beetle abundance and species richness along two spatially-distinct elevational transects (350–1000 m and 100–1000 m asl) in the rainforests of northern Australia. Temperature was the best predictor of temporal abundance and species richness patterns, while rainfall had little influence. Elevation had little effect on seasonal changes in abundance or diversity. Adults of most beetle species exhibited long season-lengths (>6 months of the year) with distinct peaks in abundance during the summer wet-season. We found evidence of phenotypic variation among the more widespread species, with seasonal peaks in abundance often not coinciding across elevations or transects. Due to the wide elevational range of most species, and the lack of consistency in the seasonality of wide-spread individual species, we suggest that many beetles inhabiting the low to mid-elevation mountains in the Wet Tropics, and potentially other tropical rainforests, are not as vulnerable to extinction due to climate change as many other organisms.
format	article
author	C. W. Wardhaugh M. J. Stone N. E. Stork
author_facet	C. W. Wardhaugh M. J. Stone N. E. Stork
author_sort	C. W. Wardhaugh
title	Seasonal variation in a diverse beetle assemblage along two elevational gradients in the Australian Wet Tropics
title_short	Seasonal variation in a diverse beetle assemblage along two elevational gradients in the Australian Wet Tropics
title_full	Seasonal variation in a diverse beetle assemblage along two elevational gradients in the Australian Wet Tropics
title_fullStr	Seasonal variation in a diverse beetle assemblage along two elevational gradients in the Australian Wet Tropics
title_full_unstemmed	Seasonal variation in a diverse beetle assemblage along two elevational gradients in the Australian Wet Tropics
title_sort	seasonal variation in a diverse beetle assemblage along two elevational gradients in the australian wet tropics
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2018
url	https://doaj.org/article/48f629fb7ec042b4b2efc3e41de0e1fe
work_keys_str_mv	AT cwwardhaugh seasonalvariationinadiversebeetleassemblagealongtwoelevationalgradientsintheaustralianwettropics AT mjstone seasonalvariationinadiversebeetleassemblagealongtwoelevationalgradientsintheaustralianwettropics AT nestork seasonalvariationinadiversebeetleassemblagealongtwoelevationalgradientsintheaustralianwettropics
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Seasonal variation in a diverse beetle assemblage along two elevational gradients in the Australian Wet Tropics

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