AIM: Locally abundant species are usually widespread, and this pattern has been related to properties of the niches and traits of species. However, such explanations fail to account for the potential of traits to determine species niches and often overlook statistical artefacts. Here, we examine how trait distinctiveness determines the abilities of species to exploit either common habitats (niche position) or a range of habitats (niche breadth) and how niche position and breadth, in turn, affect abundance and occupancy. We also examine how statistical artefacts moderate these relationships. LOCATION: Sixteen sites in the Neotropics. TIME PERIOD: 1993–2014. MAJOR TAXA STUDIED: Aquatic invertebrates from tank bromeliads. METHODS: We measured the environmental niche position and breadth of each species and calculated its trait distinctiveness as the average trait difference from all other species at each site. Then, we used a combination of structural equation models and a meta‐analytical approach to test trait–niche relationships and a null model to control for statistical artefacts. RESULTS: The trait distinctiveness of each species was unrelated to its niche properties, abundance and occupancy. In contrast, niche position was the main predictor of abundance and occupancy; species that used the most common environmental conditions found across bromeliads were locally abundant and widespread. Contributions of niche breadth to such patterns were attributable to statistical artefacts, indicating that effects of niche breadth might have been overestimated in previous studies. MAIN CONCLUSIONS: Our study reveals the generality of niche position in explaining one of the most common ecological patterns. The robustness of this result is underscored by the geographical extent of our study and our control of statistical artefacts. We call for a similar examination across other systems, which is an essential task to understand the drivers of commonness across the tree of life.

中文翻译：

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物种生态位，而不是性状，决定丰度和占用模式：多站点综合

目的：本地丰富的物种通常分布广泛，这种模式与物种的生态位和特性有关。然而，这样的解释未能解释特征确定物种生态位的潜力，并且经常忽视统计伪影。在这里，我们研究性状独特性如何决定物种利用共同栖息地（利基位置）或一系列栖息地（利基宽度）的能力，以及利基位置和宽度如何反过来影响丰度和占有率。我们还研究了统计人工制品如何调节这些关系。地点：新热带地区的 16 个地点。时间段：1993-2014。研究的主要类群：来自水箱凤梨科的水生无脊椎动物。方法：我们测量了每个物种的环境生态位位置和宽度，并将其特征独特性计算为每个地点与所有其他物种的平均特征差异。然后，我们结合使用结构方程模型和元分析方法来测试特征-利基关系，并使用空模型来控制统计伪影。结果：每个物种的性状独特性与其生态位特性、丰度和占有率无关。相比之下，生态位位置是丰度和占用率的主要预测指标；使用在凤梨科植物中发现的最常见环境条件的物种在当地数量众多且分布广泛。生态位宽度对此类模式的贡献归因于统计伪像，表明在先前的研究中，生态位宽度的影响可能被高估了。主要结论：我们的研究揭示了生态位位置在解释最常见的生态模式之一方面的普遍性。我们研究的地理范围和我们对统计人工制品的控制强调了这一结果的稳健性。我们呼吁对其他系统进行类似的检查，这是了解生命之树共性驱动因素的一项基本任务。