Abstract
Few ecological niche models (ENM) incorporate the Eltonian niche or
examine a population’s niche at multiple spatial scales. We used
Bayesian Joint Species Distribution Models (JSDMs) across multiple
spatial scales to examine whether freshwater mussel communities in east
Texas adhered to the Eltonian Noise Hypothesis, which asserts that
species interactions exert greater influence on conspecific species at
finer spatial scales. For both abundance and presence data, we observed
a statistically greater number of strong interactions at the finest
spatial scale compared to larger spatial scales. While 34% of abundance
interactions and 24% of presence interactions showed strong positive
relationships, only 6% of abundance interactions and 0% of presence
interactions showed strong negative relationships. We found that
freshwater mussel communities conform to the Eltonian Noise Hypothesis.
Inclusion of the Eltonian niche and consideration of spatial scale are
necessary to accurately model niches and increase efficacy of ENMs as
conservation tools.