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Herzog C, Reeves JT, Ipek Y, Jilling A, Hawlena D, Wilder SM. Multi-elemental consumer-driven nutrient cycling when predators feed on different prey. Oecologia 2023; 202:729-742. [PMID: 37552361 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-023-05431-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2023] [Accepted: 07/31/2023] [Indexed: 08/09/2023]
Abstract
Predators play a fundamental role in cycling nutrients through ecosystems, by altering the amount and compositions of waste products and uneaten prey parts available to decomposers. Different prey can vary in their elemental content and the deposition of elements in predator waste can vary depending on which elements are preferentially retained versus eliminated as waste products. We tested how feeding on different prey (caterpillars, cockroaches, crickets, and flies) affected the concentrations of 23 elements in excreta deposited by wolf spider across 2 seasons (spring versus fall). Spider excreta had lower concentrations of carbon and higher concentrations of many other elements (Al, B, Ba, K, Li, P, S, Si, and Sr) compared to prey remains and whole prey carcasses. In addition, elemental concentrations in unconsumed whole prey carcasses and prey remains varied between prey species, while spider excreta had the lowest variation among prey species. Finally, the concentrations of elements deposited differed between seasons, with wolf spiders excreting greater concentrations of Fe, Mg, Mn, Mo, S, and V in the fall. However, in the spring, spiders excreted higher concentrations of Al, B, Ba, Ca, Cd, Cu, K, P, Na, Si, Sr, and Zn. These results highlight that prey identity and environmental variation can determine the role that predators play in regulating the cycling of many elements. A better understanding of these convoluted nutritional interactions is critical to disentangle specific consumer-driven effects on ecosystem function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Colton Herzog
- Department of Integrative Biology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, USA.
| | - Jacob T Reeves
- Department of Integrative Biology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, USA
| | - Yetkin Ipek
- Department of Integrative Biology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, USA
| | - Andrea Jilling
- Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, USA
| | - Dror Hawlena
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, The Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Shawn M Wilder
- Department of Integrative Biology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, USA
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2
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Joel AC, Schmitt D, Baumgart L, Menzel F. Insect cuticular hydrocarbon composition influences their interaction with spider capture threads. J Exp Biol 2022; 225:274274. [PMID: 35129200 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.242514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2021] [Accepted: 02/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Insects represent the main prey of spiders, and spiders and insects co-diversified in evolutionary history. One of the main features characterizing spiders is their web as trap to capture prey. Phylogenetically, the cribellate thread is one of the earliest thread types that was specialized to capture prey. In contrast to capture threads, it lacks adhesive glue and consists of nanofibers, which do not only adhere to insects via van der Waals forces, but also interact with the insects' cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) layer, thus enhancing adhesion. The CHC layer consist of multiple hydrocarbon types and is highly diverse between species. In this study, we show that CHC adhesion to cribellate capture threads is affected by CHC composition of the insect. We studied the interaction in detail for four different insect species with different CHC profiles and observed a differential migration of CHCs into the thread. The migration depends on the molecular structure of the hydrocarbon types as well as their viscosity, influenced by altering the ambient temperature during interaction. As a consequence, adhesion forces to CHC layers differ depending on their chemical composition. Our results match predictions based on biophysical properties of hydrocarbons, and show that cribellate spiders can exert selection pressure on the CHC composition of their insect prey.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna-Christin Joel
- RWTH Aachen University, Institute of Zoology, Aachen, Germany.,Johannes Gutenberg-University, Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Mainz, Germany
| | - Dorothea Schmitt
- Johannes Gutenberg-University, Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Mainz, Germany
| | - Lucas Baumgart
- RWTH Aachen University, Institute of Zoology, Aachen, Germany
| | - Florian Menzel
- Johannes Gutenberg-University, Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Mainz, Germany
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3
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Straus S, González AL, Matthews P, Avilés L. Economies of scale shape energetics of solitary and group-living spiders and their webs. J Anim Ecol 2021; 91:255-265. [PMID: 34758114 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13628] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2021] [Accepted: 10/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Metabolic scaling, whereby larger individuals use less energy per unit mass than smaller ones, may apply to the combined metabolic rate of group-living organisms as group size increases. Spiders that form groups in high disturbance environments can serve to test the hypothesis that economies of scale benefit social groups. Using solitary and group-living spiders, we tested the hypothesis that spiders exhibit negative allometry between body or colony mass and the standing mass of their webs and whether, and how, such a relationship may contribute to group-living benefits in a cooperative spider. Given the diverse architecture of spider webs-orb, tangle and sheet-and-tangle, and associated differences in silk content, we first assessed how standing web mass scales with spider mass as a function of web architecture and whether investment in silk differs among web types. As group-living spiders are predominantly found in clades that build the presumably costlier sheet-and-tangle webs, we then asked whether cost-sharing through cooperative web maintenance contributes to a positive energy budget in a social species. We found that larger spiders had a relatively smaller investment in silk per unit mass than smaller ones, but more complex sheet-and-tangle webs contained orders of magnitude more silk than simpler orb or tangle ones. In the group-living species, standing web mass per unit spider mass continued to decline as colony size increased with a similar slope as for unitary spiders. When web maintenance activities were considered, colonies also experienced reduced mass-specific energy expenditure with increasing colony size. Activity savings contributed to a net positive energy balance for medium and large colonies after inputs from the cooperative capture of large prey were accounted for. Economies of scale have been previously demonstrated in animal societies characterized by reproductive and worker castes, but not in relatively egalitarian societies as those of social spiders. Our findings illustrate the universality of scaling laws and how economies of scale may transcend hunting strategies and levels of organization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samantha Straus
- Department of Zoology & Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Angélica L González
- Biology Department & Center for Computational and Integrative Biology, Rutgers University, Camden, NJ, USA
| | - Philip Matthews
- Department of Zoology & Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Leticia Avilés
- Department of Zoology & Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
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4
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Xavier GM, Quero A, Moura RR, Vieira C, Meira FA, Gonzaga MO. Influence of web traits, height, and daily periods of exposition on prey captured by orb-weaver spiders. Behav Processes 2021; 193:104536. [PMID: 34728314 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2021.104536] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2021] [Revised: 09/23/2021] [Accepted: 10/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Orb-webs show diversity in several traits, including silk types, architecture, physical properties, locale, and period of exposition. The investigation of how they determine the identity of intercepted prey is important to functional ecology and to the evaluation of trophic niche partitioning within communities. However, the influence of several of these variables on the composition of intercepted insects remains to be determined. In this study, we evaluated the effects of web architectural traits, height, and daily periods of exposition on the interception of different insects in terms of sizes, masses, and taxa. We conducted observations of prey intercepted by the orb webs of 16 sympatric spider species and artificial webs. We found that all orb webs mainly intercepted small and light insects, sharing the most abundant insect families found in the study area. However, spiders that show nocturnal activity, more radii in their webs, large and high webs captured heavier insects. Other orb-web traits, such as the density of capture threads did not influence the kind of intercepted insects. We discuss why some variables affected prey interceptions in terms of mass. Finally, we discuss the implications of these influential variables to functional ecology, niche differentiation, and how behavioral assessments can complete this investigation in future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel Máximo Xavier
- Pós-graduação em Ecologia e Conservação de Recursos Naturais, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, MG, Brazil.
| | - Adilson Quero
- Pós-graduação em Ecologia e Conservação de Recursos Naturais, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, MG, Brazil
| | - Rafael Rios Moura
- Pós-graduação em Ecologia e Conservação de Recursos Naturais, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, MG, Brazil; Núcleo de Extensão e Pesquisa em Ecologia e Evolução (NEPEE), Departamento de Ciências Agrárias e Naturais, Universidade do Estado de Minas Gerais, Ituiutaba, MG, Brazil
| | - Camila Vieira
- Pós-graduação em Ecologia e Conservação de Recursos Naturais, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, MG, Brazil
| | - Felipe André Meira
- Pós-graduação em Ecologia e Conservação de Recursos Naturais, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, MG, Brazil
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5
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Nessel MP, Konnovitch T, Romero GQ, González AL. Nitrogen and phosphorus enrichment cause declines in invertebrate populations: a global meta-analysis. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2021; 96:2617-2637. [PMID: 34173704 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12771] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2020] [Revised: 06/15/2021] [Accepted: 06/17/2021] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
Human-driven changes in nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) inputs are modifying biogeochemical cycles and the trophic state of many habitats worldwide. These alterations are predicted to continue to increase, with the potential for a wide range of impacts on invertebrates, key players in ecosystem-level processes. Here, we present a meta-analysis of 1679 cases from 207 studies reporting the effects of N, P, and combined N + P enrichment on the abundance, biomass, and richness of aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates. Nitrogen and phosphorus additions decreased invertebrate abundance in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, with stronger impacts under combined N + P additions. Likewise, N and N + P additions had stronger negative impacts on the abundance of tropical than temperate invertebrates. Overall, the effects of nutrient enrichment did not differ significantly among major invertebrate taxonomic groups, suggesting that changes in biogeochemical cycles are a pervasive threat to invertebrate populations across ecosystems. The effects of N and P additions differed significantly among invertebrate trophic groups but N + P addition had a consistent negative effect on invertebrates. Nutrient additions had weaker or inconclusive impacts on invertebrate biomass and richness, possibly due to the low number of case studies for these community responses. Our findings suggest that N and P enrichment affect invertebrate community structure mainly by decreasing invertebrate abundance, and these effects are dependent on the habitat and trophic identity of the invertebrates. These results highlight the important effects of human-driven nutrient enrichment on ecological systems and suggest a potential driver for the global invertebrate decline documented in recent years.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark P Nessel
- Center for Computational and Integrative Biology, Rutgers University, 201 S. Broadway, Camden, NJ, 08103, U.S.A
| | - Theresa Konnovitch
- Center for Computational and Integrative Biology, Rutgers University, 201 S. Broadway, Camden, NJ, 08103, U.S.A.,Biology Department, La Salle University, 1900 W Olney Ave, Philadelphia, PA, 19141, U.S.A
| | - Gustavo Q Romero
- Department of Animal Biology, Institute of Biology, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), CP 6109, Campinas, São Paulo, 13083-862, Brazil
| | - Angélica L González
- Center for Computational and Integrative Biology, Rutgers University, 201 S. Broadway, Camden, NJ, 08103, U.S.A.,Biology Department, Rutgers University, Science Building, 315 Penn Street, Camden, NJ, 08102, U.S.A
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6
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Michalko R, Košulič O, Wongprom P, Songsangchote C, Saksongmuang V, Trisurat Y. Reforestations of Tropical Forests Alter Interactions Between Web-Building Spiders and Their Prey. Ecosystems 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s10021-021-00627-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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7
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Wen L, Jiao X, Liu F, Zhang S, Li D. High-lipid prey reduce juvenile survivorship and delay egg laying in a small linyphiid spider Hylyphantes graminicola. J Exp Biol 2020; 223:jeb237255. [PMID: 33161380 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.237255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2020] [Accepted: 10/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Prey proteins and lipids greatly impact predator life-history traits. However, life-history plasticity offers predators the opportunity to tune the life-history traits in response to the limited macronutrients to allocate among traits. A fast-growing predator species with a strict maturation time may be more likely to consume nutritionally imbalanced prey. Here, we tested this hypothesis by examining the effect of the protein-to-lipid ratio in prey on a small sheet web-building spider, Hylyphantes graminicola, with a short life span, using adult Drosophila melanogaster as the prey. By manipulating the macronutrient content of the prey to generate three prey types with different protein-to-lipid ratios (i.e. high, intermediate and low), we demonstrated that the majority of the spiders that consumed only these flies could reach full maturity. However, juvenile spiders that consumed high-lipid (low protein-to-lipid ratio) flies had a higher rate of mortality than those consuming medium-protein and high-protein flies. The prey protein-to-lipid ratio had no significant effects on the developmental duration and size at maturity. Although the prey protein-to-lipid ratio had no significant influence on mating behaviour and female fecundity, females reared on high-lipid flies exhibited a significant delay in oviposition compared with those reared on high-protein flies. We conclude that high-lipid prey has negative effects on the survival and reproductive function of H. graminicola Our study thus provides clear evidence that low plasticity with fast development to a certain size means a high nutritional requirement for protein at a cost of lower survival and prolonged time to egg laying when prey have low protein-to-lipid content in H. graminicola.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lelei Wen
- Centre for Behavioural Ecology and Evolution (CBEE), State Key Laboratory of Biocatalysis and Enzyme Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Hubei University, Wuhan, 430062, Hubei, China
| | - Xiaoguo Jiao
- Centre for Behavioural Ecology and Evolution (CBEE), State Key Laboratory of Biocatalysis and Enzyme Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Hubei University, Wuhan, 430062, Hubei, China
| | - Fengxiang Liu
- Centre for Behavioural Ecology and Evolution (CBEE), State Key Laboratory of Biocatalysis and Enzyme Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Hubei University, Wuhan, 430062, Hubei, China
| | - Shichang Zhang
- Centre for Behavioural Ecology and Evolution (CBEE), State Key Laboratory of Biocatalysis and Enzyme Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Hubei University, Wuhan, 430062, Hubei, China
| | - Daiqin Li
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Singapore
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8
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Sobczyk Ł, Filipiak M, Czarnoleski M. Sexual Dimorphism in the Multielemental Stoichiometric Phenotypes and Stoichiometric Niches of Spiders. INSECTS 2020; 11:E484. [PMID: 32751585 PMCID: PMC7469175 DOI: 10.3390/insects11080484] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2020] [Revised: 07/28/2020] [Accepted: 07/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Nutritional limitations may shape populations and communities of organisms. This phenomenon is often studied by treating populations and communities as pools of homogenous individuals with average nutritional optima and experiencing average constraints and trade-offs that influence their fitness in a standardized way. However, populations and communities consist of individuals belonging to different sexes, each with specific nutritional demands and limitations. Taking this into account, we used the ecological stoichiometry framework to study sexual differences in the stoichiometric phenotypes, reflecting stoichiometric niches, of four spider taxa differing in the hunting mode. The species and sexes differed fundamentally in their elemental phenotypes, including elements beyond those most commonly studied (C, N and P). Both species and sexes were distinguished by the C:N ratio and concentrations of Cu, K and Zn. Species additionally differed in concentrations of Na, Mg and Mn. Phosphorous was not involved in this differentiation. Sexual dimorphism in spiders' elemental phenotypes, related to differences in their stoichiometric niches, suggests different nutritional optima and differences in nutritional limitation experienced by different sexes and species. This may influence the structure and functioning of spider populations and communities.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Michał Filipiak
- Institute of Environmental Sciences, Jagiellonian University, ul. Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Kraków, Poland; (Ł.S.); (M.C.)
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9
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Potapov AM, Dupérré N, Jochum M, Dreczko K, Klarner B, Barnes AD, Krashevska V, Rembold K, Kreft H, Brose U, Widyastuti R, Harms D, Scheu S. Functional losses in ground spider communities due to habitat structure degradation under tropical land-use change. Ecology 2020; 101:e02957. [PMID: 31840252 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.2957] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2019] [Revised: 08/31/2019] [Accepted: 11/11/2019] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Deforestation and land-use change in tropical regions result in habitat loss and extinction of species that are unable to adapt to the conditions in agricultural landscapes. If the associated loss of functional diversity is not compensated by species colonizing the converted habitats, extinctions might be followed by a reduction or loss of ecosystem functions including biological control. To date, little is known about how land-use change in the tropics alters the functional diversity of invertebrate predators and which key environmental factors may mitigate the decline in functional diversity and predation in litter and soil communities. We applied litter sieving and heat extraction to study ground spider communities and assessed structural characteristics of vegetation and parameters of litter in rainforest and agricultural land-use systems (jungle rubber, rubber, and oil palm monocultures) in a Southeast Asian hotspot of rainforest conversion: Sumatra, Indonesia. We found that (1) spider density, species richness, functional diversity, and community predation (energy flux to spiders) were reduced by 57-98% from rainforest to oil palm monoculture; (2) jungle rubber and rubber monoculture sustained relatively high diversity and predation in ground spiders, but small cryptic spider species strongly declined; (3) high species turnover compensated losses of some functional trait combinations, but did not compensate for the overall loss of functional diversity and predation per unit area; (4) spider diversity was related to habitat structure such as amount of litter, understory density, and understory height, while spider predation was better explained by plant diversity. Management practices that increase habitat-structural complexity and plant diversity such as mulching, reduced weeding, and intercropping monocultures with other plants may contribute to maintaining functional diversity of and predation services provided by ground invertebrate communities in plantations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anton M Potapov
- J.F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Untere Karspüle 2, 37073, Göttingen, Germany.,A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky Prospect 33, 119071, Moscow, Russia
| | - Nadine Dupérré
- Center of Natural History, Zoological Museum, Universität Hamburg, Bundesstraße 52, 20146, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Malte Jochum
- Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Hochschulstrasse 6, 3012, Bern, Switzerland.,German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Deutscher Pl. 5E, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.,Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Kerstin Dreczko
- Center of Natural History, Zoological Museum, Universität Hamburg, Bundesstraße 52, 20146, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Bernhard Klarner
- J.F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Untere Karspüle 2, 37073, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Andrew D Barnes
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Deutscher Pl. 5E, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.,School of Science, the University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, 3240, Hamilton, New Zealand
| | - Valentyna Krashevska
- J.F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Untere Karspüle 2, 37073, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Katja Rembold
- Botanical Garden of the University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, 3013, Bern, Switzerland.,Biodiversity, Macroecology & Biogeography, University of Göttingen, Büsgenweg 1, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Holger Kreft
- Biodiversity, Macroecology & Biogeography, University of Göttingen, Büsgenweg 1, 37077, Göttingen, Germany.,Centre of Biodiversity and Sustainable Land Use, Von-Siebold-Strasse 8, 37075, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Ulrich Brose
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Deutscher Pl. 5E, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.,Institute of Biodiversity, Friedrich Schiller University, Dornburger Strasse 159, 07743, Jena, Germany
| | - Rahayu Widyastuti
- Department of Soil Sciences and Land Resources, Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB), Jln. Meranti Kampus IPB Darmaga, 16680, Bogor, Indonesia
| | - Danilo Harms
- Center of Natural History, Zoological Museum, Universität Hamburg, Bundesstraße 52, 20146, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Stefan Scheu
- J.F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Untere Karspüle 2, 37073, Göttingen, Germany.,Centre of Biodiversity and Sustainable Land Use, Von-Siebold-Strasse 8, 37075, Göttingen, Germany
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