Fig. 2: Identification of slow-fast axes for each guild.

PCA were run on the CWM of traits hypothesised to be related to the slow-fast strategies in each guild to identify a common slow-fast axis (green arrows). This was the first PC axis for all guilds, except aboveground secondary consumer arthropods. The evidence supported the hypothesised slow-fast axis for most guilds, and partially supported it for three guilds. For Lepidoptera, there was no response from body size, contrary to expectations. Body size was measured as wing length, an indicator of overall body size (which is expected to be a “slow” trait; smaller size helps to survive disturbance) but also of dispersal ability (a “fast” trait, as larger wings promote recolonisation after disturbance). Both effects might cancel each other leading to no response of size. For secondary consumer, aboveground arthropods, dispersal and body size are slightly confounded because larger body size increases dispersal abilities. However, these two traits are opposed on the second axis of the PCA, which we use as our slow-fast index. The last guild for which we found only partial support for the slow-fast axis was bats. High body mass is usually considered a ‘slow’ trait, and is expected to be positively correlated to lifespan and negatively to the number of offspring (trade-off between survival and reproduction). However, hibernation saves resources and leads, in hibernating bats (most of the species observed in our study), to a correlation between number of offspring and body mass²²⁸, leading to the results observed here. LUI: land-use intensity. Icons were acquired and adapted from Phylopic.org (artists: M. Dahirel, B. Lang, M. Crook, J. A. Venter, H. H. T. Prins, D. A. Balfour, R. Slotow, T. M. Keesey, A. A. Farke, Y. Wong, G. Monger).