Geographical homogenization but little net change in the local richness of Canadian butterflies

Aim Recent studies have found that local‐scale plots measured through time exhibit marked variation in the change in species richness. However, the overall effect often reveals no net change. Most studies to date have been agnostic about the identities of the species lost/gained and about the processes that might lead to these changes. Generalist traits might be crucial in allowing species to colonize new plots or remain resilient in situ, whereas environmental filtering might remove specialists. We test whether plots are changing in species richness, whether they are becoming more similar (i.e., becoming homogenized) through time and whether several generalist traits can predict gains or losses from local plots. Location Canada. Time period 1945–2015. Major taxa studied Two hundred and sixty‐five species of butterflies. Methods We measured change in species richness and pairwise beta diversity across 96 well‐sampled 10 km × 10 km plots across Canada between two time periods: 1945–1975 and 1985–2015. We looked at the effects of wing span, mobility, dietary breadth and range size on the number of grid cells each species gained and lost between time periods. Results We observed a slight increase in plot‐level species richness, and that these communities are becoming homogenized through time. We note that most butterfly species in Canada have large North American ranges. The species with the widest ranges are better able to colonize new plots than species with narrower ranges, but also experience higher frequencies of local extinctions. In sum, the median range size of species within a plot increased through time. Main conclusions We highlight that, even when local species richness exhibits very little change, other potentially important changes in biodiversity can occur, such as geographical homogenization attributable to the colonization dynamics of species that are already widely distributed. Such patterns can reconcile observed global losses of species with the simultaneous lack of change in local diversity.