Drivers of Insect Community Change along the Margins of Mountain Streams in Serra da Estrela Natural Park (Portugal)

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Mountain ecosystems are important biodiversity hotspots since they host many unique species and provide valuable services. In this study, we analyze the diversity patterns of butterflies and odonates in a mountainous area of high conservation value—Serra da Estrela Natural Park (Portugal)—and we assess which factors are responsible for insect community change between study sites. The insects were sampled along 150 m transects near the margins of three mountain streams, at three elevation levels (500, 1000, and 1500 m). Butterfly species richness was lowest at high altitudes, while odonate species richness did not differ between elevations. Interestingly, species replacement drove the changes between butterfly assemblages, while changes in odonate communities were mostly due to species richness differences. Climatic factors, namely temperature and precipitation, were the main drivers of community change between sites for the two insect groups. The study of mountain insect biodiversity is key to further our understanding on the community assembly processes and provides valuable information to help predict the impacts of environmental changes on mountain biodiversity. ABSTRACT: Mountain ecosystems are important biodiversity hotspots and valuable natural laboratories to study community assembly processes. Here, we analyze the diversity patterns of butterflies and odonates in a mountainous area of high conservation value—Serra da Estrela Natural Park (Portugal)—and we assess the drivers of community change for each of the two insect groups. The butterflies and odonates were sampled along 150 m transects near the margins of three mountain streams, at three elevation levels (500, 1000, and 1500 m). We found no significant differences in odonate species richness between elevations, but marginal differences (p = 0.058) were found for butterflies due to the lower number of species at high altitudes. Both insect groups showed significant differences in beta diversity (βtotal) between elevations, with species richness differences being the most important component for odonates (βrich = 55.2%), while species replacement drove the changes between butterfly assemblages (βrepl = 60.3%). Climatic factors, particularly those depicting harsher conditions of temperature and precipitation, were the best predictors of total beta diversity (βtotal) and its components (βrich, βrepl) for the two study groups. The study of insect biodiversity patterns in mountain ecosystems and of the role played by different predictors contribute to further our understanding on the community assembly processes and may help to better predict environmental change impacts on mountain biodiversity.