We examined latitudinal gradients in species richness and body size of saproxylic beetles across 28 veteran oak forest sites spanning from Israel to Norway. Focusing on 425 species from 11 taxonomic families and five trophic groups, we tested three hypotheses to elucidate: (i) family-specific richness responses to latitude, (ii) trophic mediation of richness patterns, (iii) whether body size follows Bergmann-like clines. We found significant family-level variations in richness-latitude relationships. These non-uniform patterns highlight the importance of taxonomic resolution in capturing macroecological diversity gradients. Body size analyses revealed significant latitude associations, indicating that both phylogenetic constraints and trophic group modulate latitudinal size patterns among saproxylic beetles. Taken together, our findings emphasize that macroecological patterns in saproxylic beetles are shaped by a synthesis of phylogenetic history and functional traits. Conservation strategies should, therefore, account for family-level and trophic-group heterogeneity, particularly as climate warming and shifting resource distributions may differentially affect lineages with distinct thermoregulatory and life-history constraints. These results underscore the need for taxon-specific approaches when predicting and managing biodiversity in changing oak forest ecosystems.

Department for Ecological Monitoring Research and Species Protection Seebach Germany

Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences Linnaeus University Kalmar Sweden

Department of Biology Faculty of Science and Literature Adıyaman University Adıyaman Türkiye

Department of Botany and Zoology Faculty of Science Masaryk University Brno Czech Republic

Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management Norwegian University of Life Sciences Ås Norway

Department of Forest Entomology and Protection Faculty of Forestry Süleyman Demirel University Isparta Türkiye

Department of Science University of Rome Rome Italy

École D'ingénieurs de Purpan Toulouse France

Essex Wildlife Trust Abbotts Hall Joan Elliot Building Essex UK

Faculty of Science and Arts Balikesir University Balikesir Türkiye

IFM Biology Division of Ecology Linköping University Linköping Sweden

Institute of Entomology Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences České Budějovice Czech Republic

Institute of Evolution University of Haifa Haifa Israel

Natural History Museum London UK

Nottinghamshire Wildelife Trust The Old Ragged School Nottingham UK

Olive and Olive Processing Technology Department Vocational High School of Edremit Balıkesir University Balıkesir Türkiye

Research Institute CIBIO University of Alicante Alicante Spain

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