A unified framework for diversity gradients: The adaptive trait continuum

[Aim] Adaptive trait continua are axes of covariation observed in multivariate trait data for a given taxonomic group. These continua quantify and summarize life-history variation at the inter-specific level in multi-specific assemblages. Here we examine whether trait continua can provide a useful framework to link life-history variation with demographic and evolutionary processes in species richness gradients. Taking an altitudinal species richness gradient for Mediterranean butterflies as a study case, we examined a suite of traits (larval diet breadth, adult phenology, dispersal capacity and wing length) and species-specific habitat measures (temperature and aridity breadth). We tested whether traits and species-specific habitat measures tend to co-vary, whether they are phylogenetically conserved, and whether they are able to explain species distributions and spatial genetic variation in a large number of butterfly assemblages.