Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CAWEB (Testing macroecological theory using simplified systems)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2020-09-01 al 2022-08-31
Understanding how biological communities assemble, persist, and evolve is a central topic of debate in ecology. This information is key amidst escalating global anthropogenic threats, insofar as realistic predictions of biodiversity change require explicitly accounting for community assembly processes. In spite of the efforts made to unravel the general drivers of community assembly and change, the overwhelming complexity of most ecological systems makes it virtually impossible to realistically understand them across space and time and predict the behaviour of biological communities in a climate change perspective. Caves are ideal natural laboratories to understand how biological communities assemble and evolve owing to their isolated nature, constant climate, and low species diversity. Within the project CAWEB, we used caves, and specific spider communities within them, as a scalable model system to minimize confounding effects and to reduce the number of parameters needed to develop mechanistic representations of key ecological processes underlying assembly rules in caves. We defined three objectives at the beginning of the action:
1) To quantify the importance of functional traits in the persistence of species in changing environments.
2) To quantify deviations from expected trait dispersion in the cave environment and to understand how these change with spatial scale.
3) To evaluate the sensitivity of species to anthropogenic change and quantify which traits are connected to a higher sensitivity to environmental alterations.
1) To quantify the importance of functional traits in the persistence of species in changing environments.
2) To quantify deviations from expected trait dispersion in the cave environment and to understand how these change with spatial scale.
3) To evaluate the sensitivity of species to anthropogenic change and quantify which traits are connected to a higher sensitivity to environmental alterations.
Throughout CAWEB I published over 20 publications, including in high-impact journals such as Nature Climate Change, Science and Biological Reviews. Additional publications are currently under review (n=4) or in preparation (n=2). First, we assembled traits data for European cave spiders. We established an international network of spider experts who measured traits and extracted data from the literature. We made this data available in an open database (doi: 10.1038/s41597-022-01316-3) which we developed within the general framework of the World Spider Trait Database initiative. Once collated, these traits served as the main data currency to develop continental scale functional diversity analyses aimed at obtaining a mechanistic understanding community assembly process (publications submitted). This was not a trivial task, pushing us to develop new ideas in functional ecology (doi: 10.1111/1365-2435.13882) while leveraging on statical methods we developed prior to the start of the project (doi: 10.1111/2041-210X.13424). Parallel to this ecological work, we reflected on how to harness ecological information to achieve effective subterranean conservation. First, we reviewed available knowledge on subterranean threats and the effectiveness of conservation actions, demonstrating a strong gap in our understanding of what works to protect subterranean ecosystems (doi: 10.1111/brv.12851). Second, we mapped overlap between protected areas and subterranean ecosystems, demonstrating a poor coverage of subterranean resources by the current network of protected areas (doi: 10.1038/s41558-021-01057-y). Finally, one goal of the project was to develop mechanistic simulations to understand how the set of traits of individual organisms in caves influences the assembly of communities and food webs. Given logistic complications due to the pandemic situation, we could not finalize this part (the institution that should have hosted me during a secondment in Leipzig was mostly closed). Yet, we published theoretical aspects on the application of mechanistic models in cave ecosystems (doi: 10.1002/ece3.7556) and we are planning to develop the approach practically in follow-up research.
Parallel to the scientific work, we disseminated results to diverse audiences, including through:
1) the writing of articles intended for the general public, including a publication about cave life intended for kids (doi: 10.3389/frym.2022.657265);
2) on-site and online seminars in several institutions (University of Tartu, University of Sheffield, Czech Academy of Sciences, University of Minho, and University of Helsinki). I was also asked to act as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Ambassador at the University of Helsinki, offering a personal perspective for fellowship applicants on how to prepare a successful proposal;
3) dissemination of results at conferences, including an invited presentation at the Symposium on Subterranean Life at the 18th International Congress of Speleology (France), an invited plenary lecture at the 25th International Conference on Subterranean Biology (Romania), and an invited presentation at the symposium “Big ideas in bat research” at the 19th International Conference on Bat Research (Texas); and
4) broad online dissemination through social media (Twitter and ResearchGate).
Inevitably, there have been some logistic complications to dissemination given the COVID-19 pandemic situation in 2020–2022. For example, we could not perform some of the dissemination planned activities at the Finnish Museum of Natural History (LUOMUS), given that the museum was largely closed to both researchers and the general public.
Parallel to the scientific work, we disseminated results to diverse audiences, including through:
1) the writing of articles intended for the general public, including a publication about cave life intended for kids (doi: 10.3389/frym.2022.657265);
2) on-site and online seminars in several institutions (University of Tartu, University of Sheffield, Czech Academy of Sciences, University of Minho, and University of Helsinki). I was also asked to act as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Ambassador at the University of Helsinki, offering a personal perspective for fellowship applicants on how to prepare a successful proposal;
3) dissemination of results at conferences, including an invited presentation at the Symposium on Subterranean Life at the 18th International Congress of Speleology (France), an invited plenary lecture at the 25th International Conference on Subterranean Biology (Romania), and an invited presentation at the symposium “Big ideas in bat research” at the 19th International Conference on Bat Research (Texas); and
4) broad online dissemination through social media (Twitter and ResearchGate).
Inevitably, there have been some logistic complications to dissemination given the COVID-19 pandemic situation in 2020–2022. For example, we could not perform some of the dissemination planned activities at the Finnish Museum of Natural History (LUOMUS), given that the museum was largely closed to both researchers and the general public.
Studies about the effects of climate change in caves are virtually absent and thus this project has contributed to filling knowledge gaps, leveraging caves as sentinel ecosystems in a climate change era. Likewise, the trait-based ecology of subterranean ecosystems is a poorly studied subject. Whereas the community of subterranean biologists largely agrees that a functional perspective is a key to better understanding the ecology of caves, trait-based subterranean studies remain unicorns. Through CAWEB, we published the first continental-scale database of functional traits for a subterranean group of organisms. Our research based on this data is the first example of a continental scale assessment of functional diversity in subterranean ecosystems and provides some of the first insights into community assembly mechanisms of cave communities from a trait-based perspective.
Evidence arising from this project is also crucial to the conservation of subterranean organisms and beyond. The outputs of the projects expand our understanding of the process responsible for the peculiarity of diversity patterns in isolated habitats and the uniqueness of the challenges faced by these systems from a climate change perspective. All of this is crucially important for human societies. Subterranean ecosystems host a broad diversity of specialized and endemic organisms that account for a unique fraction of the global taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity. Furthermore, they deliver crucial contributions to people—especially the provisioning of potable water to more than half of the world’s population. Yet, these out-of-sight ecosystems are systematically overlooked in post-2020 biodiversity and climate change targets. Two main impediments are responsible for a general lack of awareness and protection devoted to subterranean ecosystems. First, subterranean biodiversity patterns remain largely unmapped, even in areas with a long speleological tradition such as Europe. Second, we lack a mechanistic understanding of subterranean species' response to human-induced perturbations. CAWEB project results expand on both these aspects, which will benefit science and society in the long run.
Evidence arising from this project is also crucial to the conservation of subterranean organisms and beyond. The outputs of the projects expand our understanding of the process responsible for the peculiarity of diversity patterns in isolated habitats and the uniqueness of the challenges faced by these systems from a climate change perspective. All of this is crucially important for human societies. Subterranean ecosystems host a broad diversity of specialized and endemic organisms that account for a unique fraction of the global taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity. Furthermore, they deliver crucial contributions to people—especially the provisioning of potable water to more than half of the world’s population. Yet, these out-of-sight ecosystems are systematically overlooked in post-2020 biodiversity and climate change targets. Two main impediments are responsible for a general lack of awareness and protection devoted to subterranean ecosystems. First, subterranean biodiversity patterns remain largely unmapped, even in areas with a long speleological tradition such as Europe. Second, we lack a mechanistic understanding of subterranean species' response to human-induced perturbations. CAWEB project results expand on both these aspects, which will benefit science and society in the long run.