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Context <p>Addressing global environmental challenges requires an integrative conservation approach that spans multiple taxonomic groups and trophic levels. The "Conserving Nature’s Stage" strategy promotes the protection of geodiversity – abiotic heterogeneity of the Earth’s surface and subsurface – as a holistic metric for biodiversity and ecosystems conservation, yet its relationship with biodiversity across multiple taxa and trophic levels remains underexplored.</p> Objectives <p>This study investigates the links between geodiversity and biodiversity at the regional scale in Occitanie (southern France) across three taxonomic groups representing distinct trophic levels: vascular plants (producers), butterflies (primary consumers), and birds (ranging from primary consumers to apex predators).</p> Methods <p>Species richness for each taxonomic group, along with geodiversity, climate, topography, and naturalness metrics, were aggregated within spatial meshes of 5&#xa0;km, 7.5&#xa0;km, and 10&#xa0;km resolution. We applied spatially explicit models to quantify the effects of overall and component-specific geodiversity (i.e., geological, pedological, hydrological, geomorphological diversity), alongside elevation range, temperature, precipitation and naturalness on species richness across scales. We used two complementary modeling approaches. Regional models were applied to evaluate the overall relationship between geodiversity and species richness across the whole study area. Local models were then used to detect whether this relationship varied from one place to another within the region.</p> Results <p>At the regional scale, geodiversity showed a significant and consistent positive association with species richness for all taxa and spatial resolutions, stronger than climatic, topographic, or naturalness variables. Pedological diversity was the component of geodiversity with the most consistent effect across taxa. At the local scale, we found strong variation in the strength of the biodiversity–geodiversity relationship. Still, these relationships were more consistent across taxa than those involving other environmental predictors.</p> Conclusion <p>Our findings highlight geodiversity – particularly pedodiversity – as a key, underutilized predictor of multi-taxa diversity. We thus advocate its integration into conservation and landscape planning strategies aimed at systemic biodiversity protection and restoration.</p>

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Unveiling the spatial link between geodiversity and biodiversity: a multi-taxon study in the South of France

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年3月21日

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  • Moustapha Gakou,
  • Tom Souhil,
  • Gladys Barragan-Jason,
  • Thierry Feuillet,
  • François Bétard,
  • Maxime Cauchoix

摘要

Context

Addressing global environmental challenges requires an integrative conservation approach that spans multiple taxonomic groups and trophic levels. The "Conserving Nature’s Stage" strategy promotes the protection of geodiversity – abiotic heterogeneity of the Earth’s surface and subsurface – as a holistic metric for biodiversity and ecosystems conservation, yet its relationship with biodiversity across multiple taxa and trophic levels remains underexplored.

Objectives

This study investigates the links between geodiversity and biodiversity at the regional scale in Occitanie (southern France) across three taxonomic groups representing distinct trophic levels: vascular plants (producers), butterflies (primary consumers), and birds (ranging from primary consumers to apex predators).

Methods

Species richness for each taxonomic group, along with geodiversity, climate, topography, and naturalness metrics, were aggregated within spatial meshes of 5 km, 7.5 km, and 10 km resolution. We applied spatially explicit models to quantify the effects of overall and component-specific geodiversity (i.e., geological, pedological, hydrological, geomorphological diversity), alongside elevation range, temperature, precipitation and naturalness on species richness across scales. We used two complementary modeling approaches. Regional models were applied to evaluate the overall relationship between geodiversity and species richness across the whole study area. Local models were then used to detect whether this relationship varied from one place to another within the region.

Results

At the regional scale, geodiversity showed a significant and consistent positive association with species richness for all taxa and spatial resolutions, stronger than climatic, topographic, or naturalness variables. Pedological diversity was the component of geodiversity with the most consistent effect across taxa. At the local scale, we found strong variation in the strength of the biodiversity–geodiversity relationship. Still, these relationships were more consistent across taxa than those involving other environmental predictors.

Conclusion

Our findings highlight geodiversity – particularly pedodiversity – as a key, underutilized predictor of multi-taxa diversity. We thus advocate its integration into conservation and landscape planning strategies aimed at systemic biodiversity protection and restoration.