Five decades ago, a landmark paper in Science titled The Cave Environment heralded
caves as ideal natural experimental laboratories in which to develop and address general …

Species traits are an essential currency in ecology, evolution, biogeography, and
conservation biology. However, trait databases are unavailable for most organisms …

Spiders (Araneae) make up a remarkably diverse lineage of predators that have
successfully colonized most terrestrial ecosystems. All spiders produce silk, and many …

Aim Understanding the variation in community composition and species abundances (ie, β‐
diversity) is at the heart of community ecology. A common approach to examine β‐diversity …

Aim To assess the relative relevance of dispersal limitation and species sorting as drivers of
spatial turnover between spider faunas of European territories. Location Continental Europe …

The determinants of biodiversity patterns in the subterranean habitat called Mesovoid
Shallow Substratum (MSS) are not well-understood. In this study, thirty-three scree slopes at …

Semiarid regions experience conspicuous seasonal variations, especially related to
precipitation. Caves in these areas can be exceptions since they are less affected by dry …

Forests contribute directly to ecosystem structure and functioning, maintaining biodiversity,
acting as a climate regulator and reducing desertification. To better manage forests, it is …

Identifying areas that contain species assemblages not found elsewhere in a region is
central to conservation planning. 1, 2 Species assemblages contain networks of species …

Understanding how biodiversity is distributed is increasingly becoming important under
ongoing and projected human land use. Measures of beta diversity, and its partitions, can …