[Aim]: Nearly 40 different hypotheses have been put forward to explain the latitudinal diversity gradient, implying that geographical variations of biodiversity may be the result of a complex array of factors affecting organisms in different ways. Our main goal was to identify the most important drivers of local dung beetle species richness in the Neotropics., [Location]: Neotropics., [Taxon]: Dung Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae)., [Methods]: We used a multi-model approach to identify which potential drivers correlate better with the variations in local dung beetle species richness. We surveyed published literature on dung beetle communities to extract information on species richness, abundance, type of bait, type of habitat and sampling effort (as hours/pitfall) for different localities, discarding sites with low sampling effort. We used environmental variables to account for six possible explanations of species richness gradients: productivity, water–energy, ambient energy, habitat heterogeneity, resource heterogeneity and seasonality, as well as spatial data to account for other geographically structured phenomena. We used mixed models—with abundance, ecoregion and bait type as random factors—to select the best model among the variables accounting for each explanation. Finally, we used structural equation models to assess which explanations are associated with variations in dung beetle diversity and how they interact., [Results]: Resource heterogeneity was the best single correlate of dung beetle richness. However, the best multiple model comprises three different explanations: productivity, resource heterogeneity and other spatially structured factors. Structural equation models show that abundance is directly (positively) associated with richness, followed by primary productivity and soil variables (a proxy for environmental heterogeneity), together with mammal richness, (a proxy for resource heterogeneity)., [Main conclusions]: Several explanations need to be considered to account for Scarabaeinae local richness patterns. The diversity of dung beetle communities correlates with the interaction of water–energy dynamics and heterogeneity in both resources and habitats. However, while heterogeneity variables are directly associated with richness, energy relates with it through abundance, and water through resource diversity., Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Grant/Award Number: 308694/2015-5 and 314523/2014-6; MCTIC/CNPq/FAPEG, Grant/Award Number: 465610/2014-5; Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, Grant/Award Number: 120147/2016-01, 88881.135489/2016-01 and PROEX 0487; SCENIC–‘Scaling the effects of niche and interaction dynamics on the ecological and evolutionary outcomes of coexistence’, Grant/Award Number: PID2019-106840GB-C21, Peer reviewed

[Aim]: Aridity gradients are of great interest for understanding the responses of biodi-versity to water availability and water stress. However, little is known about the re-sponses of many animal groups, which are crucial for assessing the effects of climate change. Here, we study the effects of aridity on dung beetle communities, a group with well- known responses to large-scale environmental gradients., [Location]: Sahara, Kalahari and Chihuahuan deserts.
[Taxa]: Dung beetles of the family Scarabaeidae., [Methods]: We conducted standardized surveys along approximately 400 km aridity gradients in each of the three deserts, and measured species richness, abundance, evenness and three aspects of trait- based functional diversity (functional richness, functional evenness and functional dispersion). By using randomization tests and linear mixed models, we compared observed with expected values for functional di-versity indices from null models that hierarchically incorporate additional assembly constraints., [Results]: Overall, we found a decrease of both taxonomic richness and functional dispersion along the three aridity gradients. Also, aridity seems to have mild effects on functional richness and functional evenness. Besides these general trends, we identi-fied differences between deserts in the responses of both taxonomic and functional diversity., [Main conclusions] Aridity shows greater importance than competition and other processes of limiting similarity or stochastic processes in community assembly. Also, the functional hypervolume of dung beetle desert communities decreases with aridity not only due to species loss, but also because of selection of a few distinct phenotypes under harsh environmental conditions. Last, we observed that the different regional pools respond to aridity in different ways. Therefore, understanding future responses of dung beetle communities to the progressive decreases in water availability driven by climate change requires determining how the characteristics of the species in the regional pool interact with aridity-driven assembly processes., PCS-B was supported by CSIC grant JAE INT20_EX_0337, and IdeC-A by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation FPI grant BES-2012-054353. This work is part of project SCENIC (grant PID2019-106840GB-C21 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033), and fieldwork was supported by project SCARPO (grant CGL2011-29317 funded by Spanish MINECO)., Peer reviewed

Traits are key for understanding the environmental responses and ecological roles of organisms. Trait approaches to functional ecology are well established for plants, whereas consistent frameworks for animal groups are less developed. Here we suggest a framework for the study of the functional ecology of animals from a trait-based response–effect approach, using dung beetles as model system. Dung beetles are a key group of decomposers that are important for many ecosystem processes. The lack of a trait-based framework tailored to this group has limited the use of traits in dung beetle functional ecology. We review which dung beetle traits respond to the environment and affect ecosystem processes, covering the wide range of spatial, temporal and biological scales at which they are involved. Dung beetles show trait-based responses to variation in temperature, water, soil properties, trophic resources, light, vegetation structure, competition, predation and parasitism. Dung beetles' influence on ecosystem processes includes trait-mediated effects on nutrient cycling, bioturbation, plant growth, seed dispersal, other dung-based organisms and parasite transmission, as well as some cases of pollination and predation. We identify 66 dung beetle traits that are either response or effect traits, or both, pertaining to six main categories: morphology, feeding, reproduction, physiology, activity and movement. Several traits pertain to more than one category, in particular dung relocation behaviour during nesting or feeding. We also identify 136 trait–response and 77 trait–effect relationships in dung beetles. No response to environmental stressors nor effect over ecological processes were related with traits of a single category. This highlights the interrelationship between the traits shaping body-plans, the multi-functionality of traits, and their role linking responses to the environment and effects on the ecosystem. Despite current developments in dung beetle functional ecology, many knowledge gaps remain, and there are biases towards certain traits, functions, taxonomic groups and regions. Our framework provides the foundations for the thorough development of trait-based dung beetle ecology. It also serves as an example framework for other taxa., Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, FPI grant BES2012-054353, Ramón y Cajal Fellowship (RYC2020-029407-I). Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación Projects CGL2011-29317, PID2019-106840GB-C21/AEI/10.13039/501100011033., Peer reviewed

Colonization of new habitat patches is a key aspect of metacommunity dynamics, particularly for sessile organisms. Mosses can establish in new patches through fragmentation, with different vegetative structures acting as propagules. Despite the importance of these propagules for successful colonization the specific aspects that favour moss colonization by vegetative propagules remain poorly understood, including the effect of propagule size. We examine the intra- and interspecific variation of establishment and colonization success in culture of propagules of different sizes in six widespread soil moss species of contrasting growth form (Dicranum scoparium, Homalothecium aureum, Hypnum cupressiforme, Ptychostomum capillare, Syntrichia ruralis and Tortella squarrosa). We obtained three different size classes of propagules from artificially fragmented vegetative material, and assessed their establishment under controlled light and temperature conditions. We characterize the size, shape, apparent viability, morphological type and size changes due to hydration states of the propagules, all of them traits with potentially significant influence in their dispersal pattern and establishment. Then we assess the effect of these traits on moss establishment, using indicators of surface establishment (number of established shoots and colonized surface) and biomass production (viable biomass) as proxies of colonization success. The establishment indicators related to colonization surface and biomass production differ among species and propagule sizes. The magnitude of the interspecific differences of all indicators of establishment success was larger at the smaller propagule size class. T. squarrosa was the most successful species, and D. scoparium showed the lowest performance. We also found interspecific differences in the hydration dynamics of the propagules. The process of establishment by vegetative fragments operates differently among moss species. Besides, differences between hydration states in propagules of some species could be part of syndromes for both dispersal and establishment. This study unveils several functional traits relevant for moss colonization, such as wet versus dry area and length of fragments, which may improve our understanding of their spatial dynamics., FH: Predoctoral FPI (fellowship BES-2017-081645, funded by Spanish MICIN). Projects UNITED (Grant CGL2016-78070-P funded by Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación/Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, UE) and SCENIC (Grants PID2019-106840GB-C21 and PID2019-106840GA-C22) funded by Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación/Agencia Estatal de Investigación, MCIN/AEI/ https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033., Peer reviewed

Species' environmental requirements and large-scale spatial and evolutionary processes determine the structure and composition of local communities. However, ecological interactions also have major effects on community assembly at landscape and local scales. We evaluate whether two xerophytic shrub communities occurring in SW Portugal follow constrained ecological assembly dynamics throughout large geographical extents, or their composition is rather driven by species’ individualistic responses to environmental and macroecological constraints. Inland dune xerophytic shrub communities were characterized in 95 plots. Then, we described the main gradients of vegetation composition and assessed the relevance of biotic interactions. We also characterized the habitat suitability of the dominant species, Stauracanthus genistoides, and Ulex australis, to map the potential distribution of the xerophytic shrub communities. Finally, we examined the relationships between the vegetation gradients and a broad set of explanatory variables to identify the relative importance of each factor driving changes in community composition. We found that xerophytic shrubs follow uniform successional patterns throughout the whole geographical area studied, but each community responds differently to the main environmental gradients in each region. Soil organic matter is the main determinant of community variations in the northern region, Setúbal Peninsula, whereas aridity is so in the South/South-Western region. In contrast, in the central region, Comporta, the variation between S. genistoides and U. australis communities is explained mainly by aridity and temperature seasonality, followed by the individualistic responses of the dominant species and soil organic matter. Overall, these results indicate that, the relative importance of the main factors causing community-level responses varies according to regional processes and the suitability of the environmental conditions for the dominant species in these communities. These responses are also determined by intrinsic community mechanisms that result in a high degree of similarity in the gradient-driven community stages in different regions., This work was funded by the projects COMDUNES (EXPL/BIA-BIC/2311/2013, Portuguese FCT) and SCENIC (PID2019-106840GB-C21, Spanish MCIN/ AEI/10.13039/501100011033). SC was supported by the FCT grant
(SFRH/BD/65659/2009) and the FCT PORBIOTA project through a postdoctoral fellowship. RMC was supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie (Grant agreement N° 894941); AMCS by a “Ramón y Cajal” Fellowship (RYC2020-029407-I) of the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación., Peer reviewed

The conversion of forests into open areas has large effects on the diversity and structure of native communities. The intensity of these effects may vary between regions, depending on the existence of native species adapted to open habitats in the regional pool or the time since habitat change., We assess the differences in species richness and functional diversity of dung beetle communities (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) between native forests and novel pasturelands of the Atlantic Forest and the Cerrado, two biomes with contrasting histories of human occupation in Brazil. We conducted standardized surveys
in seven forest fragments and adjacent pastures in each region and measured 14 traits in individuals collected in each type of habitat at each particular site. We calculated functional richness, functional evenness, functional divergence, and community-weighted mean of traits for each area, and analyzed individual variation through nested variance decomposition and Trait Statistics., Communities were richer and more numerous at the Cerrado. We did not find any consistent relationship between functional diversity and forest conversion beyond the changes in species diversity. Although landscape changes were more recent at the Cerrado, the colonization of the new habitat by native species already adapted to open habitats lessens the functional loss in this biome. This indicates that habitat change's effects on trait diversity depend on the regional species pool rather than on time since land conversion., Forest conversion effects were primarily due to internal filtering. The effects of external filtering only appear at the intraspecific variance level, with contrasting differences between the Cerrado, where traits related to relocation behavior and size are selected, and the Atlantic Forest, where selection operates for traits
related to relocation behavior and flight. These results evidence the importance of considering individual variance to address the responses of dung beetle communities to forest conversion., This work was supported by the projects “Predicting diversity variations across scales through process-based
models linking community ecology and biogeography” (CNPq PVE 314523/2014-6), and SCENIC –“ Scaling the effects of niche and interaction dynamics on the ecological and evolutionary outcomes of coexistence”
(PID2019-106840GB-C21,funded by AEI/FEDER,UE). MBP was supported by CAPES grants PROEX-0487
and 88881.135489/2016-01, and FAM by CAPES Postdoctoral scholarship 120147/2016-01. PDMJ research is funded by CNPq (grant 308694/2015-5). This paper is a contribution of the INCT in Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity Conservation founded by MCTIC/CNPq/FAPEG (grant 465610/2014-5)., Peer reviewed

Biodiversity data records contain inaccuracies and biases. To overcome this limitation and establish robust geographic patterns, ecologists often curate records keeping those that are most suitable for their analyses. Yet, this choice is not straightforward and the outcome of the analysis may vary due to a trade-off between data quality and volume. This problem is particularly recurrent for less-studied groups with patchy sampling effort. The latitudinal pattern of mosses richness remains inconsistent across studies and these may emerge purely from sampling artefacts. Our main objective here is to assess the effect of different curation criteria on this spatial pattern in the Temperate Northern Hemisphere (above 20° latitude). We contrasted the geographical distribution of moss species records and the latitude-species richness relation obtained under different data curation scenarios. These scenarios comprehend five sources of taxonomical standardisations and eight data cleaning filters. The analyses are based on the selection of well-surveyed cells at 100 km cell resolution. The application of some ‘data curation scenarios’ severely affects the number of records selected for analysis and substantially changes the proportion of richness per cell. The sensitivity to data curation becomes detectable at regional and at the cell scales showing a large shift in the latitudinal richness peak in Europe, from 60° N to 45° N latitude, when only preserved specimens are selected and duplicates based on date of collection and coordinates are excluded. Our results stress the importance of justifying the criteria used for filtering biodiversity data retrieved from biodiversity databases to avoid detecting misleading patterns. Curating records under particular criteria compromises the information in some areas displaying different spatial information of mosses. This problem can be ameliorated if data filtering is combined with identifying well-surveyed cells, render relatively constant results under different combinations of filtering even for less well-known groups such as mosses., This work was funded by Spanish AEI coordinated project SCENIC, grants PID2019-106840GB-C21 and PID2019-106840GA-C22, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. JS was funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (grant agreement #843234; project: TAXON-TIME) and by the Spanish Council for Scientific Research (IF_ERC). Additional support has been provided by the ‘Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Ecologia, Evolução e Conservação da Biodiversidade’ (INCT-EECBio) (MCTIC/CNPq 465610/2014-5; FAPEG 201810267000023)., Peer reviewed

The surge of biodiversity data availability in recent decades has allowed researchers to ask questions on previously unthinkable scales, but knowledge gaps still remain. In this study, we aim to quantify potential gains to insect data on the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) through further digitisation of natural history collections, assess to what degree this would fill biases in spatial and environmental record coverage, and deepen understanding of environmental bias with regard to climate rarity. Using mainland Afrotropical records for Catharsius Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), we compared inventory completeness of GBIF data to a dataset which combined these with records from a recent taxonomic revision. We analysed how this
improved dataset reduced regional and environmental bias in the distribution of occurrence records using an approach that identifies well-surveyed spatial units of 100 × 100km as well as emerging techniques to classify rarity of climates. We found that the number of cells for which inventory completeness could be calculated, as well as coverage of climate types by ‘well-sampled’ cells, increased threefold when using the combined set compared to the GBIF set. Improvements to sampling in Central and Western Africa were particularly striking, and coverage of rare climates was similarly improved, as not a single well-sampled cell from the GBIF data alone occurred in the rarest climate types. These findings support existing literature that suggests data gaps
on GBIF are still pervasive, especially for insects and in the tropics, and so, is not yet ready to serve as a standalone data source for all taxa. However, we show that natural history collections hold the necessary information to fill many of these gaps, and their further digitisation should be a priority., This work was supported by the Department of Biology, University of Oxford; the African Natural History Research Trust Scholarship; MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/FEDER, EU; Spanish AEI projects NICED (PID2022-140985NB-C21) and SCENIC (PID2019-106840GB-C21), Peer reviewed

Fire significantly contributes to the distribution, composition, and functioning of ecosystems. It is also among the most damaging disturbances, exacerbated by increasing fire intensity and extent due to climate change. However, some ecosystems, like Mediterranean scrublands, recover quickly due to species' adaptations to frequent fire regimes. This study investigates the community assembly processes during a secondary succession following the fire in a dune system within Doñana Natural Park, Southern Spain. To achieve this, three shrub communities were characterised along a coast-to-inland gradient over two consecutive years using a Non-Metric Multidimensional Scaling ordination. Then, a set of ecophysiological and structural traits of the dominant shrub species were analysed through a Principal Component Analysis, and correlation analyses were performed to assess the relationships between the three communities and the studied traits. Finally, to investigate the spatial structure of the shrub communities, a co-occurrence network was constructed and Moran's I analyses were conducted. The results revealed that natural secondary succession has restored shrub communities along the gradient to states similar to those existing before the fire, indicating a consistent recovery pattern. Although species composition was comparable across zones, community spatial structure and several traits varied from coastal to interior areas, with more complex co-occurrence networks observed inland. Overall, the results underline the significance of environmental filters and species interactions in shaping community assembly during secondary succession after fire. Furthermore, they highlight that post fire community responses can be predicted through mechanisms linking the regional species pool, regeneration traits, and physical heterogeneity., This research has been supported by projects SCENIC, PID2019-106840GB-C21, and NICED, PID2022-140985NB-C21 and PID2022-140985NB-C22, Ministerios de Ciencia e Innovación (Spain). We thank Doñana Biological Station and Doñana National Park for facilities in working on the area. We also thank Cristina Rodríguez Muñoz and Juan Luis de la Fuente for assistance in the field. SC was supported by the project Montados Net- Zero, PRR-C05-i03-I-000236, through a postdoctoral fellowship., Peer reviewed

The processes driving species co-occurrence across scales are poorly understood. Bryophytes are especially interesting in this respect because, while they disperse over long distances and have broad distributions, they are particularly affected by local conditions due to their small size. We investigated the relationship between pairwise species associations within epiphytic bryophytes and their macroclimatic niche similarities and taxonomic relatedness at four scales (global, regional, habitat and microhabitat). We used community data for 2000 trees from 107 forests in the northwest Iberian Peninsula, and global occurrences for the 33 species with broad distributions, to calculate pairwise co-occurrence at each scale and bioclimatic niche similarity. We also obtained taxonomic distance matrices from the bibliography as a proxy for pairwise phylogenetic relatedness between species. Co-occurrence relates to macroclimatic niche similarity at all scales, but this relationship decreases towards smaller scales. Taxonomic affinity was also a good indicator of the pairwise co-occurrence not explained by macroclimatic niche similarity at the finest scales. Interestingly, at all scales, most pairwise relationships are positive or neutral rather than negative, although the direction of approximately 7% of these relationships shifts from positive at the microhabitat scale to negative at the regional scale. Macroclimatic requirements are progressively less important for species coexistence as scale diminishes, probably due to the effect of unmeasured local interactions, community-level processes, and microclimatic variations. Synthesis. Our results highlight that positive interactions may be at least as important as negative ones, if not more, for the coexistence of bryophyte species across scales. They also underscore th, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España); Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España); Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, Unión Europea y Cooperación (España); Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnología

Ecological communities under extreme environments are shaped by a balance of environmental filtering and coexistence mechanisms that result in a series of assembly rules. Although there is abundant evidence about the importance of these community assembly mechanisms in plants, their effects have been seldom compared for animals. We assess their relative importance for the temporal and spatial responses of dung beetle communities along a strong aridity gradient in the edge of the Sahara. Specifically, we study how phylogenetic and functional community structure varies with aridity in space and time and combine it with selected traits to assess the relative importance of mechanisms associated with known assembly rules along the gradient, including whether increasing aridity selects for specific trait values. We surveyed a 400-km gradient toward the Sahara in the dry and wet seasons of two consecutive years, gathering phylogenetic information and quantifying traits related to aridity from direct measurements and the literature. We calculated metrics of functional and phylogenetic diversity, the decoupled variation in functional diversity, functional and phylogenetic beta diversity, their standardized effect sizes based on null models, and community weighted means for all relevant traits. Then, we assessed the relationships between the spatial and temporal variations in these facets of diversity through linear models, independent principal components analyses, and multiple ANOVAs (MANOVAs). Increasing aridity filters dung beetle communities at the phylogenetic and functional levels, selecting particular trait syndromes in both space and time, as communities change similarly toward the Sahara and between the wet and dry seasons. Contrary to expectations, phylogenetic and functional structure shows a continuous replacement with aridity rather than a nested loss of lineages and trait values, which is not accompanied by a reduction in trait volume along the gradient. Only the hyperarid conditions of the dry season show reductions in trait volume. This implies that responses to aridity lead to assemblages with a common adaptive strategy, dominated by saprophagous species with longer wings and endocoprid behavior, associated with the acquisition of ephemeral resources in the poor desert environment. In addition, animal communities can respond to rapid ecosystem breakdowns if their phenological amplitude includes extreme conditions., Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España); Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España); Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (España); European Commission; Universidad de Granada; CSIC - Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN); Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (España); Swiss Federal Research Institute (Suiza); Universidade Federal de Goiás; Universidade de Lisboa; Moroccan Direction de la Lutte Contre la Désertification et de la Protection de la Nature

Ecology increasingly relies on a massive volume of biodiversity occurrence records to draw insights into large-scale biogeographical, ecological and evolutionary phenomena. This often involves defining a set of criteria that guides the collection, filtering and standardising of available records. These curation processes are often neither described in detail nor well documented. This hampers the comparability and reproducibility of studies and thus undermines the robustness of any ecological result. Yet, to date, there is no guide providing a friendly way to reason and document a complete data curation process.
We reviewed the available literature on data curation, including tools such as R packages and workflows. From this assessment, we created a complete guide organised into five modules that allows users to consciously select and validate occurrence records based on these curation criteria. This is presented in the user-friendly Shiny R OCCUR application, available at https://ecoinformatic.shinyapps.io/OCCUR/.
OCCUR application provides a guide for researchers to deal with the trade-off between data certainty and coverage generated in each data curation step. An interactive graph of these changes is provided within each module. OCCUR also produces a custom-made final report including all steps used for data filtering. This report helps to streamline the writing of the methods section of manuscripts and technical reports, thus promoting the reproducibility of data curation processes.
This Shiny application provides an interactive overview of the data curation methods and their use for handling occurrence records from public repositories. It brings together the taxonomic, temporal and spatial dimensions of data and also the identification of duplicates of the records. OCCUR can be applied for multiple purposes, such as teaching R to ecologists or enhancing reproducibility of macroecology and biogeography., Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (Brasil)
Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (España)
Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Ecologia Evolução Conservação da Biodiversida (Brasil)
Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Goiás
Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España)
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (Brasil), Peer reviewed

The processes driving species co-occurrence across scales are poorly understood. Bryophytes are especially interesting in this respect because, while they disperse over long distances and have broad distributions, they are particularly affected by local conditions due to their small size.
We investigated the relationship between pairwise species associations within epiphytic bryophytes and their macroclimatic niche similarities and taxonomic relatedness at four scales (global, regional, habitat and microhabitat). We used community data for 2000 trees from 107 forests in the northwest Iberian Peninsula, and global occurrences for the 33 species with broad distributions, to calculate pairwise co-occurrence at each scale and bioclimatic niche similarity. We also obtained taxonomic distance matrices from the bibliography as a proxy for pairwise phylogenetic relatedness between species.
Co-occurrence relates to macroclimatic niche similarity at all scales, but this relationship decreases towards smaller scales. Taxonomic affinity was also a good indicator of the pairwise co-occurrence not explained by macroclimatic niche similarity at the finest scales. Interestingly, at all scales, most pairwise relationships are positive or neutral rather than negative, although the direction of approximately 7% of these relationships shifts from positive at the microhabitat scale to negative at the regional scale. Macroclimatic requirements are progressively less important for species coexistence as scale diminishes, probably due to the effect of unmeasured local interactions, community-level processes, and microclimatic variations.
Synthesis. Our results highlight that positive interactions may be at least as important as negative ones, if not more, for the coexistence of bryophyte species across scales. They also underscore that co-occurrence patterns may shift across scales, and the critical role of both macro- and microenvironmental conditions in shaping the life strategies and persistence of local populations of a plant group with population dynamics characterized by extensive geographic distributions. The implications of these findings go beyond their relevance for bryophyte ecology, challenging the prevailing assumption that limiting similarity processes primarily shape ecological communities.

Colonization of new habitat patches is a key aspect of metacommunity dynamics, particularly for sessile organisms. Mosses can establish in new patches through fragmentation, with different vegetative structures acting as propagules. Despite the importance of these propagules for successful colonization the specific aspects that favour moss colonization by vegetative propagules remain poorly understood, including the effect of propagule size. We examine the intra- and interspecific variation of establishment and colonization success in culture of propagules of different sizes in six widespread soil moss species of contrasting growth form (Dicranum scoparium, Homalothecium aureum, Hypnum cupressiforme, Ptychostomum capillare, Syntrichia ruralis and Tortella squarrosa). We obtained three different size classes of propagules from artificially fragmented vegetative material, and assessed their establishment under controlled light and temperature conditions. We characterize the size, shape, apparent viability, morphological type and size changes due to hydration states of the propagules, all of them traits with potentially significant influence in their dispersal pattern and establishment. Then we assess the effect of these traits on moss establishment, using indicators of surface establishment (number of established shoots and colonized surface) and biomass production (viable biomass) as proxies of colonization success. The establishment indicators related to colonization surface and biomass production differ among species and propagule sizes. The magnitude of the interspecific differences of all indicators of establishment success was larger at the smaller propagule size class. T. squarrosa was the most successful species, and D. scoparium showed the lowest performance. We also found interspecific differences in the hydration dynamics of the propagules. The process of establishment by vegetative fragments operates differently among moss species. Besides, differences between hydration states in propagules of some species could be part of syndromes for both dispersal and establishment. This study unveils several functional traits relevant for moss colonization, such as wet versus dry area and length of fragments, which may improve our understanding of their spatial dynamics.