Evaluating Community Assembly using Species Niche Strategies Within a Multispecies Occupancy Modeling Framework

Abstract

Identifying species according to the type and flexibility of their niche strategies may afford ecologists a way to predict how species are structured within their communities. Small mammal communities offer an ideal study system to test relationships between species niche strategies and bottom up (habitat) influences on assembly. Most North American small mammals belong to a single species‐rich taxonomic order (Rodentia), with a wide range of physiological and behavioral adaptations to various terrestrial environments. They often occur in multi‐species communities where both interspecific competition and resource limitations may influence occupancy and abundance. The transition from the short‐ and mixed‐grass prairie (High and Northwest Great Plains) to the sagebrush steppe (Wyoming and Great Basins) supports a gradient of abiotic and biotic conditions that facilitate the establishment of variable small mammal communities. Using multispecies occupancy models we evaluated the impact the grasslandsagebrush gradient and species niche strategies have on species richness and community assembly. Species richness is an essential measurement of biodiversity and vital towards evaluating community health with species declining globally. Using a combination of bottom up and species biological strategies within a framework that requires only presence/absence for species can be an advantageous method for monitoring ecosystem health and community persistence.