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Guo C, Yan ER, Cornelissen JHC. Size matters for linking traits to ecosystem multifunctionality. Trends Ecol Evol 2022; 37:803-813. [PMID: 35810137 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2022.06.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2021] [Revised: 05/20/2022] [Accepted: 06/08/2022] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
A priority research field addresses how to optimize diverse ecosystem services to people, including biodiversity support, regulatory, utilitarian and cultural services. This field may benefit from linking ecosystem services to the sizes of different body parts of organisms, with functional traits as the go-between. Using woody ecosystems to explore such linkages, we hypothesize that across stem diameter classes from trunk via branches to twigs, key wood and bark functional traits (especially those defining size-shape and resource economics spectra) vary both within individual trees and shrubs and across woody species, thereby together boosting ecosystem multifunctionality. While we focus on woody plants aboveground, we discuss promising extensions to belowground organs of trees and shrubs and analogs with other organisms, for example, vertebrate animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chao Guo
- Putuo Island Ecosystem Research Station, Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, and Shanghai Key Lab for Urban Ecological Processes and Eco-Restoration, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China; Institute of Eco-Chongming (IEC), 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai 200062, China
| | - En-Rong Yan
- Putuo Island Ecosystem Research Station, Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, and Shanghai Key Lab for Urban Ecological Processes and Eco-Restoration, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China; Institute of Eco-Chongming (IEC), 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai 200062, China.
| | - J Hans C Cornelissen
- Systems Ecology, A-Life, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit (VU University), De Boelelaan 1085, 1081, HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Figueroa LL, Maran A, Pelini SL. Increasing temperatures reduce invertebrate abundance and slow decomposition. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0259045. [PMID: 34758046 PMCID: PMC8580216 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0259045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2021] [Accepted: 10/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Decomposition is an essential ecosystem service driven by interacting biotic and abiotic factors. Increasing temperatures due to climate change can affect soil moisture, soil fauna, and subsequently, decomposition. Understanding how projected climate change scenarios will affect decomposition is of vital importance for predicting nutrient cycling and ecosystem health. In this study, we experimentally addressed the question of how the early stages of decomposition would vary along a gradient of projected climate change scenarios. Given the importance of biodiversity for ecosystem service provisioning, we measured the effect of invertebrate exclusion on red maple (Acer rubrum) leaf litter breakdown along a temperature gradient using litterbags in warming chambers over a period of five weeks. Leaf litter decomposed more slowly in the warmer chambers and in the litterbag treatment that minimized invertebrate access. Moreover, increasing air temperature reduced invertebrate abundance and richness, and altered the community composition, independent of exclusion treatment. Using structural equation models, we were able to disentangle the effects of average air temperature on leaf litter loss, finding a direct negative effect of warming on the early stages of decomposition, independent of invertebrate abundance. This result indicates that not only can climate change affect the invertebrate community, but may also directly influence how the remaining organisms interact with their environment and their effectiveness at provisioning ecosystem services. Overall, our study highlights the role of biodiversity in maintaining ecosystem services and contributes to our understanding of how climate change could disrupt nutrient cycling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura L. Figueroa
- Harvard Forest, Harvard University, Petersham, Massachusetts, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Audrey Maran
- Harvard Forest, Harvard University, Petersham, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Department of Biological Sciences, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, United States of America
| | - Shannon L. Pelini
- Harvard Forest, Harvard University, Petersham, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Department of Biological Sciences, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, United States of America
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Tuo B, Yan ER, Guo C, Ci H, Berg MP, Cornelissen JHC. Influences of the bark economics spectrum and positive termite feedback on bark and xylem decomposition. Ecology 2021; 102:e03480. [PMID: 34270798 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3480] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2020] [Revised: 03/25/2021] [Accepted: 05/13/2021] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
The plant economics spectrum integrates trade-offs and covariation in resource economic traits of different plant organs and their consequences for pivotal ecosystem processes, such as decomposition. However, in this concept stems are often considered as one unit ignoring the important functional differences between wood (xylem) and bark. These differences may not only affect the performance of woody plants during their lifetime, but may also have important "afterlife effects." Specifically, bark quality may strongly affect deadwood decomposition of different woody species. We hypothesized that (1) bark quality strongly influences bark decomposability to microbial decomposers, and possibly amplifies the interspecific variation in decomposition by invertebrate consumption, especially termites; and (2) bark decomposition has secondary effects on xylem mass loss by providing access to decomposers including invertebrates such as termites. We tested these hypotheses across 34 subtropical woody species representing five common plant functional types, by conducting an in situ deadwood decomposition experiment over 12-month in two sites in subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest in China. We employed visual examination and surface density measurement to quantify termite consumption to both bark and the underlying xylem, respectively. Using principal component analysis, we synthesized seven bark traits to provide the first empirical evidence for a bark economics spectrum (BES), with high BES values (i.e., bark thickness, nitrogen, phosphorus, and cellulose contents) indicating a resource acquisitive strategy and low BES values (i.e., carbon, lignin, and dry matter contents) indicating a resource conservative strategy. The BES affected interspecific variation in bark mass loss and this relationship was strongly amplified by termites. The BES also explained nearly half of the interspecific variation in termite consumption to xylem, making it an important contributor to deadwood decomposition overall. Moreover, the above across-species relationships manifested also within plant functional types, highlighting the value of using continuous variation in bark traits rather than categorical plant functional types in carbon cycle modeling. Our findings demonstrate the potent role of the BES in influencing deadwood decomposition including positive invertebrate feedback thereon in warm-climate forests, with implications for the role of bark quality in carbon cycling in other woody biomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bin Tuo
- Putuo Island Ecosystem Research Station, Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, and Shanghai Key Lab for Urban Ecological Processes and Eco-Restoration, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200241, China.,Department of Ecological Science, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, Amsterdam, 1081 HV, The Netherlands
| | - En-Rong Yan
- Putuo Island Ecosystem Research Station, Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, and Shanghai Key Lab for Urban Ecological Processes and Eco-Restoration, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200241, China
| | - Chao Guo
- Putuo Island Ecosystem Research Station, Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, and Shanghai Key Lab for Urban Ecological Processes and Eco-Restoration, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200241, China
| | - Hang Ci
- Putuo Island Ecosystem Research Station, Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, and Shanghai Key Lab for Urban Ecological Processes and Eco-Restoration, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200241, China
| | - Matty P Berg
- Department of Ecological Science, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, Amsterdam, 1081 HV, The Netherlands.,Community and Conservation Ecology Group, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Post Box 11103, Groningen, 9700 CC, The Netherlands
| | - Johannes H C Cornelissen
- Department of Ecological Science, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, Amsterdam, 1081 HV, The Netherlands
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Du J, Qv M, Qv W, Liu L, Zhang Y, Cui M, Zhang H. Potential threats of zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 nanoparticles to aquatic fungi associated with leaf decomposition. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 2021; 401:123273. [PMID: 32629349 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.123273] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2020] [Revised: 06/18/2020] [Accepted: 06/18/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Synthesis of zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 nanoparticles (ZIF-8 NPs) and evaluation of their potential threats on ecosystem functioning has been reported in this work. A 45-day indoor experiment was conducted to explore the effects of ZIF-8 NPs at three different concentrations (10, 100, and 1000 μg L-1) on the aquatic fungal community associated with Populus nigra L. leaf litter decomposition. After chronic exposure, ZIF-8 NPs at 1000 μg L-1 significantly inhibited fungal biomass and extracellular enzyme activities as a result of inhibition on carbon and nitrogen loss of leaves. Besides, ZIF-8 NPs at 10 μg L-1 increased the percentage of Anguillospora in the fungal community and led Monographella cucumerina and Mycosphaerella tassiana to become the hub species, which eventually significantly promoted the decomposition of leaf litter. In conclusion, our study provides a reference for the possible ecotoxicity of ZIF-8 NPs on aquatic fungi, confirms the influence of ZIF-8 NPs on nutrient cycling in streams, and also emphasizes the importance of fungal community structure and hub species in the process of leaf litter decomposition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jingjing Du
- School of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Zhengzhou University of Light Industry, Zhengzhou, China; Key Laboratory of Pollution Treatment and Resource, China National Light Industry, Zhengzhou, China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Environmental Pollution Control and Ecological Restoration, Henan Province, China.
| | - Mingxiang Qv
- School of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Zhengzhou University of Light Industry, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Wenrui Qv
- School of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Zhengzhou University of Light Industry, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Lina Liu
- School of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Zhengzhou University of Light Industry, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Yuyan Zhang
- School of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Zhengzhou University of Light Industry, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Minghui Cui
- School of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Zhengzhou University of Light Industry, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Hongzhong Zhang
- School of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Zhengzhou University of Light Industry, Zhengzhou, China; Key Laboratory of Pollution Treatment and Resource, China National Light Industry, Zhengzhou, China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Environmental Pollution Control and Ecological Restoration, Henan Province, China
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