Session

Understanding how species assemble into communities has been a major focus of ecological research, traditionally analyzed through simple indicators like species richness and Shannon diversity for alpha diversity and more complex indices for beta diversity components such as turnover and nestedness. Recently, a multidimensional approach, the hypervolume concept, has been revised to allow characterization of communities using distance metrics and kernel density estimates. Recent studies have employed this concept to understand functional niche space, predict ecological strategy losses, and study ecosystem stability. Comparing hypervolumes can help to reveal spatial variations in species assemblages across different elevations. In our Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research (LTSER) site, Matschertal/Val di Mazia, we studied an elevational gradient from 1000 to 2500 m a.s.l., collecting data on arthropods and plants. Despite challenges in obtaining trait information for some species, we analyzed four distinct traits for each species group at four elevational steps using the hypervolume concept. Our study aims to advance understanding of how elevation influences species trait space and to shed light on ecological processes in mountainous landscapes. These findings have significant implications for predicting species responses to climate change and informing conservation strategies in mountain ecosystems.