RESUMO: Tropical forests are globally threatened ecosystems facing intense deforestation and habitat fragmentation, which significantly impact their biodiversity. This study evaluates the spatial effects of forest cover on arthropod diversity across an altitudinal gradient within the Los Tuxtlas Biosphere Reserve, Mexico, using a multi-taxa approach including dung beetles, heteropterans, melolonthid beetles, and scorpions. Species richness and abundance were modelled across multiple spatial scales of forest cover (100–1000 m buffers) and elevation (0–1,200 m), revealing scale-dependent and taxa-specific responses to habitat amount and elevation. Greater forest cover consistently supported higher species richness and abundance, with variations in scale of effect among taxa. Elevational gradients influenced richness and abundance patterns differentially, including unimodal and inverted unimodal responses. These findings highlight the importance of integrating multi-scale and multi-taxa analyses to understand biodiversity responses to landscape modification and inform conservation strategies tailored to the spatial ecology of tropical forest communities. Implications for insect conservation Maintaining forest cover at appropriate spatial scales is essential for conserving insect diversity, as responses vary among taxa. Landscape-scale conservation across elevational gradients is therefore necessary to protect tropical arthropod communities.