Integrating macroecology with temporal and trait-based perspectives : toward better attribution of human drivers to diversity changes

The ongoing biodiversity crisis presents a complex challenge for ecological science. Despite a consensus on general biodiversity decline, identifying clear trends remains difficult due to variability in data, methodologies, and scales of analysis. To enhance our understanding of ongoing biodiversity changes and address discrepancies in biodiversity trend detection, we propose integrating macroecological theory with temporal and trait-based perspectives. ● First, analyzing temporal changes in macroecological patterns, such as species accumulation curves, can reconcile and synthesize conflicting observations of biodiversity change, enabling quantification of diversity shifts across scales. ● Second, diversity patterns across scales are linked to three proximate components: abundance, evenness, and spatial aggregation. Investigating temporal changes in these components provides deeper insights into how human activities directly influence biodiversity trends. ● Third, incorporating species traits into the analysis of these macroecological patterns improves our understanding of human impacts on biodiversity by elucidating the links between species characteristics and their responses to environmental changes. We discuss the limitations and challenges of this integrative approach and highlight how it offers a comprehensive framework for understanding the drivers of biodiversity change across scales. This framework facilitates a more nuanced understanding of how human activities impact biodiversity, ultimately paving the way for more informed actions to mitigate biodiversity loss across spatial and temporal scales.