Species distribution models are commonly used tools to describe diversity patterns and support conservation measures. There is a wide range of approaches to developing SDMs, each highlighting different characteristics of both the data and the ecology of the species or assemblages represented by the data. Yet, signals of species co-occurrences in community data are usually ignored, due to the assumption that such structuring roles of species co-occurrences are limited to small spatial scales and require experimental studies to be detected. Here, our aim is to explore associations among marine sandy-bottom sediment inhabitants and test for the structuring effect of seagrass on co-occurrences among these species across a New Zealand intertidal sandflat, using a joint species distribution model (JSDM). We ran a JSDM on a total of 27 macrobenthic species co-occurring in 300,000 m2 of sandflat. These species represented all major taxonomic groups, i.e. polychaetes, bivalves and crustaceans, collected in 400 sampling locations. A number of significant co-occurrences due to shared habitat preferences were present in vegetated areas, where negative and positive correlations were approximately equally common. A few species, among them the gastropods Cominella glandiformis and Notoacmea scapha, co-occurred randomly with other seagrass benthic inhabitants. Residual correlations were less apparent and mostly positive. In bare sand flats shared habitat preferences resulted in many significant co-occurrences of benthic species. Moreover, many negative and positive residual patterns between benthic species remained after accounting for habitat preferences. Some species occurring in both habitats showed similarities in their correlations, such as the polychaete Aglaophamus macroura, which shared habitat preferences with many other benthic species in both habitats, yet no residual correlations remained in either habitat. Firstly, analyses based on a latent variable approach to joint distributions stressed the structuring role of species co-occurrences beyond experimental scales. Secondly, results showed context dependent interactions, highlighted by species having more interconnected networks in New Zealand bare sediment sandflats than in seagrass meadows. These findings stress the critical importance of natural history to modelling, as well as incorporating ecological reality in SDMs.

中文翻译：

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海草草甸和裸露沙地底栖群落的共现模式和大规模空间结构。

物种分布模型是描述多样性模式和支持保护措施的常用工具。开发SDM的方法很多，每种方法都突出了数据的不同特征以及数据所代表的物种或组合的生态。然而，由于假设物种共现的这种结构作用仅限于较小的空间尺度，并且需要进行实验研究，因此通常忽略社区数据中物种共现的信号。在这里，我们的目的是使用联合物种分布模型（JSDM）探索海洋沙底沉积物居民之间的联系，并测试海草对新西兰潮间带滩涂中这些物种共生的结构效应。我们对300,000平方米的滩涂中共发生的27种大型底栖动物进行了JSDM处理。这些物种代表了所有主要的生物分类群，即多毛类，双壳类和甲壳类，收集在400个采样点。在植被区，由于共同的生境偏好，出现了许多重要的同时发生，负相关和正相关大致相同。少数种类的腹足纲动物Cominella glandiformis和Notoacmea scapha与其他海草底栖生物随机共生。残留相关性较不明显，且大多呈正相关。在裸露的沙地上，共同的生境偏好导致底栖物种大量共生。此外，在考虑到栖息地的偏好之后，底栖物种之间仍然保留着许多消极和积极的残留模式。在两个生境中都出现的某些物种在相关性上显示出相似性，例如，多毛AAglaophamus macroura，在两个生境中与许多其他底栖物种共有生境偏好，但是在两个生境中都没有残留的相关性。首先，基于潜在变量方法的联合分布分析强调了超过实验规模的物种共现的结构作用。其次，结果显示了与环境有关的相互作用，其突出之处是与裸藻沉积的滩涂相比，在海草草地上具有更多互连网络的物种。这些发现强调了自然历史对建模以及将生态现实纳入SDM的极端重要性。例如多头cha（Achaophamus macroura），它们在两个生境中都与许多其他底栖生物共有生境偏好，但在任何一个生境中都没有残留的相关性。首先，基于潜在变量方法的联合分布分析强调了实验范围以外物种共生的结构作用。其次，结果显示了与环境有关的相互作用，其突出之处是与裸藻沉积的滩涂相比，在海草草地上具有更多互连网络的物种。这些发现强调了自然历史对建模以及将生态现实纳入SDM的极端重要性。例如多头cha（Achaophamus macroura），它们在两个生境中都与许多其他底栖生物共有生境偏好，但在任何一个生境中都没有残留的相关性。首先，基于潜在变量方法的联合分布分析强调了实验范围以外物种共生的结构作用。其次，结果显示了与环境有关的相互作用，其突出之处是与裸藻沉积的滩涂相比，在海草草地上具有更多互连网络的物种。这些发现强调了自然历史对建模以及将生态现实纳入SDM的极端重要性。基于潜在变量方法进行联合分布的分析强调了超出实验规模的物种共现的结构作用。其次，结果显示了与环境有关的相互作用，其突出之处是与裸藻沉积的滩涂相比，在海草草地上具有更多互连网络的物种。这些发现强调了自然历史对建模以及将生态现实纳入SDM的极端重要性。基于潜在变量方法进行联合分布的分析强调了超出实验规模的物种共现的结构作用。其次，结果显示了与环境有关的相互作用，其突出之处在于，与裸藻草地相比，新西兰裸露的沉积沙滩具有更多的相互联系的网络。这些发现强调了自然历史对建模以及将生态现实纳入SDM的极端重要性。