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Liu S, Tong J, Xu M, Meng Q, Shi Y, Zhao H, Li Y. The Effect of Elevation Gradient on Distribution and Body Size of Carabid Beetles in the Changbaishan Nature Reserve in Northeast Asia. INSECTS 2024; 15:688. [PMID: 39336656 PMCID: PMC11432507 DOI: 10.3390/insects15090688] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2024] [Revised: 09/07/2024] [Accepted: 09/08/2024] [Indexed: 09/30/2024]
Abstract
The environment of mountain ecosystems can change greatly in short distances as elevation increases. The effects of elevation change on the distribution and body size of carabid beetles were investigated at elevations of 750-2600 m in the Changbaishan Nature Reserve (Northeast China). The richness and abundance of carabid species decreased significantly as elevation increased. However, the change trends are different in forests and tundra. In the broad-leaved Korean pine forest and coniferous forest at low elevations, carabid beetle species have high richness and abundance. The community composition of carabid beetles was significantly different at different elevations and among different vegetation types. Some species only occurred at specific elevations. There were fewer indicator species in high-elevation areas, but Carabus macleayi Dejean, Nebria pektusanica Horratovich and Pterostichus jaechi Kirschenhofer were mainly found in high-elevation areas. The average body size of species in the carabid beetle community was negatively correlated with elevation. The sizes of the larger Carabus canaliculatus Adams and Carabus venustus Morawitz were negatively correlated with elevation. Their body sizes decreased obviously in the tundra at elevations above 2000 m. Changes in vegetation types at high elevations affect the distribution and body sizes of beetles along the elevation gradient. Some large carabid species may be smaller at high elevations where a unique insect fauna has developed. The body size and distribution range of the carabid may be the factors that affect body size reduction at high elevation. Although some high-elevation species also occur in low-elevation areas, the protection of species diversity in high-elevation areas should be emphasized in the context of global climate change. The results illustrate the mechanisms of carabid beetles' response to elevation change and the need for carabid beetles' diversity conservation under global climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Qingfan Meng
- Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Insect Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function of Changbai Mountains, Beihua University, Jilin 132013, China
| | - Ying Shi
- Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Insect Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function of Changbai Mountains, Beihua University, Jilin 132013, China
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Shen Y, Zou Y, Song K, Wan X. Dispersal limitation and environmental filtering effects: The taxonomic and functional beta diversity of ground beetles along the altitudinal gradient in Chinese warm-temperature forests. Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e11492. [PMID: 38932955 PMCID: PMC11199336 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.11492] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2024] [Revised: 05/12/2024] [Accepted: 05/15/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Beta diversity patterns along environmental gradients and underlying mechanisms constitute key research inquiries in biogeography. However, ecological processes often also influence the functional traits of biological communities, making the assessment of functional β-diversity crucial. Ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) are one of the most species-rich groups in the insect community, displaying strong habitat specificity and morphological differences. In this study, we explored the patterns of taxonomic and functional beta diversity in ground beetle communities along the altitudinal gradient of warm-temperature forests. By partitioning beta diversity into turnover and nestedness components, we evaluated their relationship with spatial distance. Our findings indicate a decline in species and functional trait similarity with increasing elevation and geographic distance. Further analysis attributed both types of beta diversity in carabids to a combination of dispersal limitation and environmental filtering, with elevation and geographic distance emerging as significant factors. Interestingly, forest-type variations were found to have no impact on the beta diversity of these communities. Our study reveals the impact of environmental filtering and dispersal limitation on both taxonomic and functional beta-diversity, shedding light on carabid community assembly in localized warm-temperature forest areas in eastern China.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yagang Shen
- School of Resources and EngineeringAnhui UniversityHefeiChina
| | - Yi Zou
- Department of Health and Environmental Sciences, School of ScienceXi'an Jiaotong‐Liverpool UniversitySuzhouChina
| | - Kun Song
- Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, School of Ecological and Environmental SciencesEast China Normal UniversityShanghaiChina
| | - Xia Wan
- School of Resources and EngineeringAnhui UniversityHefeiChina
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Furusawa J, Makoto K, Utsumi S. A large-scale field experiment of artificially caused landslides with replications revealed the response of the ground-dwelling beetle community to landslides. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e9939. [PMID: 36969925 PMCID: PMC10037431 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9939] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2022] [Revised: 03/03/2023] [Accepted: 03/08/2023] [Indexed: 03/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Precipitation-induced landslides, which are predicted to increase under the changing climate, may have large impacts on insect community properties. However, understanding of how insect community properties shift following landslides remains limited because replicated research involving landslides, which are large-scale disturbances with stochastic natural causes, is difficult. To tackle this issue, we conducted a large-scale field experiment by artificially causing landslides at multiple sites. We established 12 landslide sites, each 35 m × 35 m, and 6 undisturbed sites in both planted and natural forests and collected ground-dwelling beetles 1 year later. We found that forest type (i.e., pre-disturbance vegetation) did not affect the structure of a ground-dwelling beetle community disturbed by a landslide (landslide community), but the structure of an undisturbed community was affected by forest type. Moreover, the structures of landslide and undisturbed communities were completely different, possibly because landslides create harsh environments that act as an ecological filter. Thus, a niche-selection process may have a critical role in community assembly at landslide sites. There were no significant differences in species diversity between undisturbed and landslide communities, suggesting that landslides to not reduce species richness overall. However, among-site variability in species composition was much greater at landslide sites than at undisturbed sites. This result suggests that stochastic colonization predominated at the landslide sites more than undisturbed sites. Synthesis and applications. Overall, our results suggest that both deterministic and stochastic processes are critical in community assembly, at least in the early post-landslide stage. Our large-scale manipulative field experiment with replications has thus resulted in new insights into biological community properties after a landslide.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jumpei Furusawa
- Graduate School of Environmental ScienceHokkaido UniversitySapporoJapan
| | - Kobayashi Makoto
- Nayoro Research Office, Field Science Center for Northern BiosphereHokkaido UniversityNayoroJapan
| | - Shunsuke Utsumi
- Field Science Center for Northern BiosphereHokkaido UniversitySapporoJapan
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The Functional Structure of Tropical Plant Communities and Soil Properties Enhance Ecosystem Functioning and Multifunctionality in Different Ecosystems in Ghana. FORESTS 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/f13020297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Plant functional traits are useful in tracking changes in the environment, and play an important role in determining ecosystem functioning. The relationship between plant functional traits and ecosystem functioning remains unclear, although there is growing evidence on this relationship. In this study, we tested whether the functional structure of vegetation has significant effects on the provision of ecosystem services. We analysed plant trait composition (specific leaf area, leaf carbon and nitrogen ratio, isotopic carbon fraction, stem dry matter content, seed mass and plant height), soil parameters (nutrients, pH, bulk density) and proxies of ecosystem services (carbon stock, decomposition rate, invertebrate activity) in twenty-four plots in three tropical ecosystems (active restored and natural forests and an agroforestry system) in Ghana. For each plot, we measured above-ground biomass, decomposition rates of leaves and invertebrate activity as proxies for the provision of ecosystem services to evaluate (i) whether there were differences in functional composition and soil properties and their magnitude between ecosystem types. We further aimed to (ii) determine whether the functional structure and/or soil parameters drove ecosystem functions and multifunctionality in the three ecosystem types. For functional composition, both the leaf economic spectrum and seed mass dimension clearly separated the ecosystem types. The natural forest was more dominated by acquisitive plants than the other two ecosystem types, while the non-natural forests (agroforest and restored forest) showed higher variation in the functional space. The natural forest had higher values of soil properties than the restored forest and the agroforestry system, with the differences between the restored and agroforestry systems driven by bulk density. Levels of ecosystem service proxies and multifunctionality were positively related to the functional richness of forest plots and were mainly explained by the differences in site conditions. Our study demonstrated the effects of functional forest structure on ecosystem services in different forest ecosystems located in the semi-deciduous forest zone of Ghana.
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Zumstein P, Bruelheide H, Fichtner A, Schuldt A, Staab M, Härdtle W, Zhou H, Assmann T. What shapes ground beetle assemblages in a tree species-rich subtropical forest? Zookeys 2021; 1044:907-927. [PMID: 34183896 PMCID: PMC8222196 DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1044.63803] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2021] [Accepted: 04/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
As woody plants provide much of the trophic basis for food webs in forests their species richness, but also stand age and numerous further variables such as vegetation structure, soil properties and elevation can shape assemblages of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae). However, the combined impact of these numerous variables on ground beetle diversity and community structure has rarely been studied simultaneously. Therefore, ground beetles were studied in 27 plots in a highly diverse and structurally heterogeneous subtropical forest ecosystem, the Gutianshan National Park (southeast China) using pitfall traps and flight interception traps. Both trapping methods collected partly overlapping species spectra. The arboreal fauna was dominated by lebiines and to a smaller extent by tiger beetles and platynines; the epigeic fauna comprised mostly representatives of the genus Carabus and numerous tribes, especially anisodactylines, pterostichines, and sphodrines. Ground beetle species richness, abundance, and biomass of the pitfall trap catches were analyzed with generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs), fitted with seven environmental variables. Four of these variables influenced the ground beetle assemblages: Canopy cover, herb cover, pH-value of the topsoil and elevation. Contrary to our expectations, woody plant species richness and stand age did not significantly affect ground beetle assemblages. Thus, ground beetles seem to respond differently to environmental variables than ants and spiders, two other predominantly predatory arthropod groups that were studied on the same plots in our study area and which showed distinct relationships with woody plant richness. Our results highlight the need to study a wider range of taxa to achieve a better understanding of how environmental changes affect species assemblages and their functioning in forest ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pascale Zumstein
- Institute of Ecology, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Universitätsallee 1, 21335 Lüneburg, GermanyLeuphana UniversityLüneburgGermany
| | - Helge Bruelheide
- Institute of Biology/Geobotany, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06108 Halle (Saale), GermanyMartin Luther UniversityHalleGermany
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, GermanyGerman Centre for Integrative Biodiversity ResearchLeipzigGermany
| | - Andreas Fichtner
- Institute of Ecology, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Universitätsallee 1, 21335 Lüneburg, GermanyLeuphana UniversityLüneburgGermany
| | - Andreas Schuldt
- Forest Nature Conservation, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Büsgenweg 3, 37077 Göttingen, GermanyGeorg-August-UniversityGöttingenGermany
| | - Michael Staab
- Ecological Networks, Technical University Darmstadt, Schnittspahnstraße 3, 64287 Darmstadt, GermanyTechnical University DarmstadtDarmstadtGermany
| | - Werner Härdtle
- Institute of Ecology, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Universitätsallee 1, 21335 Lüneburg, GermanyLeuphana UniversityLüneburgGermany
| | - Hongzhang Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1 Beichen West Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, ChinaKey Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Thorsten Assmann
- Institute of Ecology, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Universitätsallee 1, 21335 Lüneburg, GermanyLeuphana UniversityLüneburgGermany
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