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da Silva LP, Mata VA, Lopes PB, Pinho CJ, Chaves C, Correia E, Pinto J, Heleno RH, Timoteo S, Beja P. Dietary metabarcoding reveals the simplification of bird-pest interaction networks across a gradient of agricultural cover. Mol Ecol 2024; 33:e17324. [PMID: 38506491 DOI: 10.1111/mec.17324] [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: 10/06/2023] [Revised: 02/28/2024] [Accepted: 03/12/2024] [Indexed: 03/21/2024]
Abstract
Agriculture is vital for supporting human populations, but its intensification often leads to landscape homogenization and a decline in non-provisioning ecosystem services. Ecological intensification and multifunctional landscapes are suggested as nature-based alternatives to intensive agriculture, using ecological processes like natural pest regulation to maximize food production. Birds are recognized for their role in increasing crop yields by consuming invertebrate pests in several agroecosystems. However, the understanding of how bird species, their traits and agricultural land cover influence the structure of bird-pest interactions remains limited. We sampled bird-pest interactions monthly for 1 year, at four sites within a multifunctional landscape, following a gradient of increasing agricultural land cover. We analysed 2583 droppings of 55 bird species with DNA metabarcoding and detected 225 pest species in 1139 samples of 42 bird species. As expected, bird-pest interactions were highly variable across bird species. Dietary pest richness was lower in the fully agricultural site, while predation frequency remained consistent across the agricultural land cover gradient. Network analysis revealed a reduction in the complexity of bird-pest interactions as agricultural coverage increased. Bird species abundance affected the bird's contribution to the network structure more than any of the bird traits analysed (weight, phenology, invertebrate frequency in diet and foraging strata), with more common birds being more important to network structure. Overall, our results show that increasing agricultural land cover increases the homogenization of bird-pest interactions. This shows the importance of maintaining natural patches within agricultural landscapes for biodiversity conservation and enhanced biocontrol.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis P da Silva
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação Em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal
| | - Vanessa A Mata
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação Em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal
| | - Pedro B Lopes
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação Em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal
| | - Catarina J Pinho
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação Em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Catia Chaves
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação Em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal
| | - Edna Correia
- Departamento de Biologia Animal, Centro de Estudos Do Ambiente e Do Mar, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Joana Pinto
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação Em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal
| | - Ruben H Heleno
- Department of Life Sciences, Centre for Functional Ecology, Associate Laboratory TERRA, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Sergio Timoteo
- Department of Life Sciences, Centre for Functional Ecology, Associate Laboratory TERRA, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Pedro Beja
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação Em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação Em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Institute of Agronomy, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
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2
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Daouti E, Neidel V, Carbonne B, Vašková H, Traugott M, Wallinger C, Bommarco R, Feit B, Bohan DA, Saska P, Skuhrovec J, Vasconcelos S, Petit S, van der Werf W, Jonsson M. Functional redundancy of weed seed predation is reduced by intensified agriculture. Ecol Lett 2024; 27:e14411. [PMID: 38577993 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14411] [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: 04/06/2023] [Revised: 01/19/2024] [Accepted: 02/29/2024] [Indexed: 04/06/2024]
Abstract
Intensified agriculture, a driver of biodiversity loss, can diminish ecosystem functions and their stability. Biodiversity can increase functional redundancy and is expected to stabilize ecosystem functions. Few studies, however, have explored how agricultural intensity affects functional redundancy and its link with ecosystem function stability. Here, within a continental-wide study, we assess how functional redundancy of seed predation is affected by agricultural intensity and landscape simplification. By combining carabid abundances with molecular gut content data, functional redundancy of seed predation was quantified for 65 weed genera across 60 fields in four European countries. Across weed genera, functional redundancy was reduced with high field management intensity and simplified crop rotations. Moreover, functional redundancy increased the spatial stability of weed seed predation at the field scale. We found that ecosystem functions are vulnerable to disturbances in intensively managed agroecosystems, providing empirical evidence of the importance of biodiversity for stable ecosystem functions across space.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eirini Daouti
- Department of Crop Production Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
- Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Veronika Neidel
- Applied Animal Ecology, Department of Zoology, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | | | - Hana Vašková
- Functional Diversity in Agro-Ecosystems, Crop Research Institute, Praha 6, Ruzyně, Czech Republic
| | - Michael Traugott
- Applied Animal Ecology, Department of Zoology, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Corinna Wallinger
- Applied Animal Ecology, Department of Zoology, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Riccardo Bommarco
- Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Benjamin Feit
- Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - David A Bohan
- Agroécologie, INRAE, Institut Agro, Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Dijon, France
| | - Pavel Saska
- Functional Diversity in Agro-Ecosystems, Crop Research Institute, Praha 6, Ruzyně, Czech Republic
| | - Jiří Skuhrovec
- Functional Diversity in Agro-Ecosystems, Crop Research Institute, Praha 6, Ruzyně, Czech Republic
| | - Sasha Vasconcelos
- Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Sandrine Petit
- Agroécologie, INRAE, Institut Agro, Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Dijon, France
| | - Wopke van der Werf
- Centre for Crop Systems Analysis, Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Mattias Jonsson
- Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
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3
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Saether BE, Engen S, Solbu EB. Assessing the sensitivity and resistance of communities in a changing environment. J Anim Ecol 2024; 93:8-20. [PMID: 37740526 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.14003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2022] [Accepted: 08/28/2023] [Indexed: 09/24/2023]
Abstract
We propose that the ecological resilience of communities to permanent changes of the environment can be based on how variation in the overall abundance of individuals affects the number of species. Community sensitivity is defined as the ratio between the rate of change in the log expected number of species and the rate of change in the log expected number of individuals in the community. High community sensitivity means that small changes in the total abundance strongly impact the number of species. Community resistance is the proportional reduction in expected number of individuals that the community can sustain before expecting to lose one species. A small value of community resistance means that the community can only endure a small reduction in abundance before it is expected to lose one species. Based on long-term studies of four bird communities in European deciduous forests at different latitudes large differences were found in the resilience to environmental perturbations. Estimating the variance components of the species abundance distribution revealed how different processes contributed to the community sensitivity and resistance. Species heterogeneity in the population dynamics was the largest component, but its proportion varied among communities. Species-specific response to environmental fluctuations was the second major component of the variation in abundance. Estimates of community sensitivity and resistance based on data only from a single year were in general larger than those based on estimates from longer time series. Thus, our approach can provide rapid and conservative assessment of the resilience of communities to environmental changes also including only short-term data. This study shows that a general ecological mechanism, caused by increased strength of density dependence due to reduction in resource availability, can provide an intuitive measure of community resilience to environmental variation. Our analyses also illustrate the importance of including specific assumptions about how different processes affect community dynamics. For example, if stochastic fluctuations in the environment affect all species in a similar way, the sensitivity and resistance of the community to environmental changes will be different from communities in which all species show independent responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bernt-Erik Saether
- Department of Biology, Centre for Biodiversity Dynamics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
| | - Steinar Engen
- Department of Mathematical Sciences, Centre for Biodiversity Dynamics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
| | - Erik Blystad Solbu
- Department of Landscape and Biodiversity, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), Trondheim, Norway
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4
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Gardarin A, Valantin‐Morison M. Initial assemblage characteristics determine the functional dynamics of flower-strip plant communities. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e9435. [PMID: 36267684 PMCID: PMC9579737 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9435] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2022] [Revised: 09/22/2022] [Accepted: 09/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
In agroecosystems, species‐rich habitats, such as linear field margins and flower strips, are beneficial to the overall biodiversity and contribute to pest control. Their effects are thought to be mediated by plant species composition and diversity. However, the management of plant communities with targeted levels of functional diversity has been little investigated. In an open field landscape, we compared the effects of the sown species richness (9, 14, and 29 species) and functional diversity (high vs. low) of eight different seed mixtures, sown in flower strips, on the 4‐year temporal dynamics of their functional diversity. There was a good agreement between the expected and realized species richness and functional diversity at the start of the experiment. All plant assemblages progressively lost species over time, but this decline was lower for assemblages sown with a high initial functional diversity, in which species evenness was maintained at higher levels. Species‐rich assemblages had a higher degree of functional redundancy, and their functional diversity remained higher over time than less rich assemblages. A possible explanation for this is that functional redundancy would have enabled the compensation for the loss of species by functionally equivalent species. The realized functional diversity of the sown species also limited the establishment of spontaneous species, perhaps due to a higher degree of niche occupancy. This study provides useful insight into the creation of functionally diversified plant communities. A high level of initial species and functional diversity is required to guarantee a greater temporal persistence of the communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antoine Gardarin
- UMR Agronomie, INRAE, AgroParisTechUniversité Paris‐SaclayThiverval‐GrignonFrance
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5
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Widick IV, Berl JL, Kaplan I, Zollner PA, Blubaugh CK. The fear diet: Risk, refuge, and biological control by omnivorous weed seed predators. Basic Appl Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.baae.2022.09.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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6
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Mata VA, da Silva LP, Veríssimo J, Horta P, Raposeira H, McCracken GF, Rebelo H, Beja P. Combining DNA metabarcoding and ecological networks to inform conservation biocontrol by small vertebrate predators. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2021; 31:e02457. [PMID: 34529299 PMCID: PMC9285058 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2457] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2020] [Revised: 04/22/2021] [Accepted: 05/20/2021] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
In multifunctional landscapes, diverse communities of flying vertebrate predators provide vital services of insect pest control. In such landscapes, conservation biocontrol should benefit service-providing species to enhance the flow, stability and resilience of pest control services supporting the production of food and fiber. However, this would require identifying key service providers, which may be challenging when multiple predators interact with multiple pests. Here we provide a framework to identify the functional role of individual species to pest control in multifunctional landscapes. First, we used DNA metabarcoding to provide detailed data on pest species predation by diverse predator communities. Then, these data were fed into an extensive network analysis, in which information relevant for conservation biocontrol is gained from parameters describing network structure (e.g., modularity) and species roles in such network (e.g., centrality, specialization). We applied our framework to a Mediterranean landscape, where 19 bat species were found to feed on 132 insect pest species. Metabarcoding data revealed potentially important bats that consumed insect pest species in high frequency and/or diversity. Network analysis showed a modular structure, indicating sets of bat species that are required to regulate specific sets of insect pests. A few generalist bats had particularly important roles, either at network or module levels. Extinction simulations highlighted six bats, including species of conservation concern, which were sufficient to ensure that over three-quarters of the pest species had at least one bat predator. Combining DNA metabarcoding and ecological network analysis provides a valuable framework to identify individual species within diverse predator communities that might have a disproportionate contribution to pest control services in multifunctional landscapes. These species can be regarded as candidate targets for conservation biocontrol, although additional information is needed to evaluate their actual effectiveness in pest regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vanessa A. Mata
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório AssociadoCampus de Vairão, Universidade of PortoVairão4485‐661Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land PlanningCIBIO, Campus de VairãoVairão4485‐661Portugal
| | - Luis P. da Silva
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório AssociadoCampus de Vairão, Universidade of PortoVairão4485‐661Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land PlanningCIBIO, Campus de VairãoVairão4485‐661Portugal
| | - Joana Veríssimo
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório AssociadoCampus de Vairão, Universidade of PortoVairão4485‐661Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land PlanningCIBIO, Campus de VairãoVairão4485‐661Portugal
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de CiênciasUniversidade do PortoPorto4099‐002Portugal
| | - Pedro Horta
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório AssociadoCampus de Vairão, Universidade of PortoVairão4485‐661Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land PlanningCIBIO, Campus de VairãoVairão4485‐661Portugal
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de CiênciasUniversidade do PortoPorto4099‐002Portugal
| | - Helena Raposeira
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório AssociadoCampus de Vairão, Universidade of PortoVairão4485‐661Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land PlanningCIBIO, Campus de VairãoVairão4485‐661Portugal
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de CiênciasUniversidade do PortoPorto4099‐002Portugal
| | - Gary F. McCracken
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of TennesseeKnoxvilleTennessee37996‐1610USA
| | - Hugo Rebelo
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório AssociadoCampus de Vairão, Universidade of PortoVairão4485‐661Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land PlanningCIBIO, Campus de VairãoVairão4485‐661Portugal
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório AssociadoInstituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de LisboaLisboa1349‐017Portugal
| | - Pedro Beja
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório AssociadoCampus de Vairão, Universidade of PortoVairão4485‐661Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land PlanningCIBIO, Campus de VairãoVairão4485‐661Portugal
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório AssociadoInstituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de LisboaLisboa1349‐017Portugal
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7
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Greenop A, Woodcock BA, Outhwaite CL, Carvell C, Pywell RF, Mancini F, Edwards FK, Johnson AC, Isaac NJB. Patterns of invertebrate functional diversity highlight the vulnerability of ecosystem services over a 45-year period. Curr Biol 2021; 31:4627-4634.e3. [PMID: 34411527 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.07.080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2021] [Revised: 06/24/2021] [Accepted: 07/29/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Declines in invertebrate biodiversity1,2 pose a significant threat to key ecosystem services.3-5 Current analyses of biodiversity often focus on taxonomic diversity (e.g., species richness),6,7 which does not account for the functional role of a species. Functional diversity of species' morphological or behavioral traits is likely more relevant to ecosystem service delivery than taxonomic diversity, as functional diversity has been found to be a key driver of a number of ecosystem services including decomposition and pollination.8-12 At present, we lack a good understanding of long-term and large-scale changes in functional diversity, which limits our capacity to determine the vulnerability of key ecosystem services with ongoing biodiversity change. Here we derive trends in functional diversity and taxonomic diversity over a 45-year period across Great Britain for species supporting freshwater aquatic functions, pollination, natural pest control, and agricultural pests (a disservice). Species supporting aquatic functions showed a synchronous collapse and recovery in functional and taxonomic diversity. In contrast, pollinators showed an increase in taxonomic diversity, but a decline and recovery in functional diversity. Pest control agents and pests showed greater stability in functional diversity over the assessment period. We also found that functional diversity could appear stable or show patterns of recovery, despite ongoing changes in the composition of traits among species. Our results suggest that invertebrate assemblages can show considerable variability in their functional structure over time at a national scale, which provides an important step in determining the long-term vulnerability of key ecosystem services with ongoing biodiversity change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arran Greenop
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Maclean Building, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 8BB, UK.
| | - Ben A Woodcock
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Maclean Building, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 8BB, UK
| | - Charlotte L Outhwaite
- Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Claire Carvell
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Maclean Building, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 8BB, UK
| | - Richard F Pywell
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Maclean Building, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 8BB, UK
| | - Francesca Mancini
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Maclean Building, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 8BB, UK
| | - François K Edwards
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Maclean Building, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 8BB, UK
| | - Andrew C Johnson
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Maclean Building, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 8BB, UK
| | - Nick J B Isaac
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Maclean Building, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 8BB, UK
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8
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Coccia C, Almeida BA, Green AJ, Gutiérrez AB, Carbonell JA. Functional diversity of macroinvertebrates as a tool to evaluate wetland restoration. J Appl Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.14038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Coccia
- Department of Wetland Ecology Estación Biológica de Doñana EBD‐CSIC Sevilla Spain
- Bahía Lomas Research Center Universidad Santo Tomás Santiago Chile
| | - Bia A. Almeida
- Department of Wetland Ecology Estación Biológica de Doñana EBD‐CSIC Sevilla Spain
| | - Andy J. Green
- Department of Wetland Ecology Estación Biológica de Doñana EBD‐CSIC Sevilla Spain
| | - Ana Belén Gutiérrez
- Department of Wetland Ecology Estación Biológica de Doñana EBD‐CSIC Sevilla Spain
| | - José Antonio Carbonell
- Department of Wetland Ecology Estación Biológica de Doñana EBD‐CSIC Sevilla Spain
- Department of Zoology Faculty of Biology University of Seville Sevilla Spain
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9
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Ross SRPJ, Arnoldi JF, Loreau M, White CD, Stout JC, Jackson AL, Donohue I. Universal scaling of robustness of ecosystem services to species loss. Nat Commun 2021; 12:5167. [PMID: 34453056 PMCID: PMC8397752 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-25507-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2021] [Accepted: 08/04/2021] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Ensuring reliable supply of services from nature is key to the sustainable development and well-being of human societies. Varied and frequently complex relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem services have, however, frustrated our capacity to quantify and predict the vulnerability of those services to species extinctions. Here, we use a qualitative Boolean modelling framework to identify universal drivers of the robustness of ecosystem service supply to species loss. These drivers comprise simple features of the networks that link species to the functions they perform that, in turn, underpin a service. Together, they define what we call network fragility. Using data from >250 real ecological networks representing services such as pollination and seed-dispersal, we demonstrate that network fragility predicts remarkably well the robustness of empirical ecosystem services. We then show how to quantify contributions of individual species to ecosystem service robustness, enabling quantification of how vulnerability scales from species to services. Our findings provide general insights into the way species, functional traits, and the links between them together determine the vulnerability of ecosystem service supply to biodiversity loss.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel R P-J Ross
- Department of Zoology, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Jean-François Arnoldi
- Department of Zoology, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
- Theoretical and Experimental Ecological Station, CNRS, Moulis, France
| | - Michel Loreau
- Theoretical and Experimental Ecological Station, CNRS, Moulis, France
| | - Cian D White
- Department of Botany, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Jane C Stout
- Department of Botany, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Andrew L Jackson
- Department of Zoology, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Ian Donohue
- Department of Zoology, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
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10
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Aguilera G, Riggi L, Miller K, Roslin T, Bommarco R. Organic fertilisation enhances generalist predators and suppresses aphid growth in the absence of specialist predators. J Appl Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.13862] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Guillermo Aguilera
- Department of Ecology Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Uppsala Sweden
| | - Laura Riggi
- Department of Ecology Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Uppsala Sweden
| | - Kirsten Miller
- Department of Ecology Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Uppsala Sweden
- School of Natural and Environmental Sciences Newcastle University Newcastle upon Tyne UK
| | - Tomas Roslin
- Department of Ecology Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Uppsala Sweden
| | - Riccardo Bommarco
- Department of Ecology Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Uppsala Sweden
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11
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Feit B, Blüthgen N, Daouti E, Straub C, Traugott M, Jonsson M. Landscape complexity promotes resilience of biological pest control to climate change. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20210547. [PMID: 34034522 PMCID: PMC8150070 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.0547] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2021] [Accepted: 04/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Increased climate variability as a result of anthropogenic climate change can threaten the functioning of ecosystem services. However, diverse responses to climate change among species (response diversity) can provide ecosystems with resilience to this growing threat. Measuring and managing response diversity and resilience to global change are key ecological challenges. Here, we develop a novel index of climate resilience of ecosystem services, exemplified by the thermal resilience of predator communities providing biological pest control. Field assays revealed substantial differences in the temperature-dependent activity of predator species and indices of thermal resilience varied among predator communities occupying different fields. Predator assemblages with higher thermal resilience provided more stable pest control in microcosms where the temperature was experimentally varied, confirming that the index of thermal resilience developed here is linked to predator function. Importantly, complex landscapes containing a high number of non-crop habitat patches were more likely to contain predator communities with high thermal resilience. Thus, the conservation and restoration of non-crop habitats in agricultural landscapes-practices known to strengthen natural pest suppression under current conditions-will also confer resilience in ecosystem service provisioning to climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Feit
- Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 75751 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Nico Blüthgen
- Ecological Networks, Department of Biology, Technical University of Darmstadt, 64289 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Eirini Daouti
- Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 75751 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Cory Straub
- Department of Biology, Ursinus College, Collegeville, PA 19426, USA
| | - Michael Traugott
- Mountain Agriculture Research Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Mattias Jonsson
- Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 75751 Uppsala, Sweden
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Uhl B, Wölfling M, Fiedler K. Qualitative and Quantitative Loss of Habitat at Different Spatial Scales Affects Functional Moth Diversity. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.637371] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Land use change has led to large-scale insect decline, threatening ecosystem resilience through reduced functional diversity. Even in nature reserves, losses in insect diversity have been detected. Hereby, changes in local habitat quality and landscape-scale habitat quantity can play a role driving functional diversity toward erosion. Our aim was to analyze how local and landscape-scale factors simultaneously affect functional insect diversity. Therefore, we sampled moths in two Italian coastal forest reserves at 60 sites. Our focus was on functional richness, redundancy and niche occupation, being important for ecosystem resilience, following the insurance framework. Ecological information about 387 species and 14 traits was used to analyze functional diversity. Twenty-five functional groups were recognized and used to estimate niche occupation and redundancy. Fourteen local and 12 landscape-scale factors were measured and condensed by using Principal Components Analysis. The resulting PC-axes served as predictors in linear mixed effects models. Functional richness, redundancy and niche occupation of moths were lower at sites with low habitat quality and quantity, indicating reduced ecosystem resilience. Especially landscape diversity and habitat structure, viz. a humidity-nutrient gradient, but also plant diversity, were promoting functional richness. Landscape fragmentation, indicating increased impermeability for insects, reduced local functional richness, redundancy and niche occupation. Local habitat quality and landscape-wide habitat quantity are both important for maintaining functional insect diversity inside reserves. Therefore, small and isolated nature reserves might fail in preserving biodiversity and ecosystem functions through adverse effects acting from the surrounding landscape structure and configuration.
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Greenop A, Cook SM, Wilby A, Pywell RF, Woodcock BA. Invertebrate community structure predicts natural pest control resilience to insecticide exposure. J Appl Ecol 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.13752] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Arran Greenop
- NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Wallingford UK
- Lancaster Environment Centre Lancaster University Lancaster UK
| | - Samantha M. Cook
- Biointeractions and Crop Protection Department Rothamsted Research Harpenden UK
| | - Andrew Wilby
- Lancaster Environment Centre Lancaster University Lancaster UK
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Cursach J, Rita J, Gómez-Martínez C, Cardona C, Capó M, Lázaro A. The role of landscape composition and heterogeneity on the taxonomical and functional diversity of Mediterranean plant communities in agricultural landscapes. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0238222. [PMID: 32936803 PMCID: PMC7494112 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0238222] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2020] [Accepted: 08/12/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The expansion of agriculture is a major driver of biodiversity loss worldwide, through changes generated in the landscape. Despite this, very little is still known about the complex relationships between landscape composition and heterogeneity and plant taxonomical and functional diversity in Mediterranean ecosystems that have been extensively managed during millennia. Although according to the Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis (IDH) plant richness might peak at intermediate disturbance levels, functional diversity might increase with landscape heterogeneity and decrease with the intensity of disturbance. Here, we evaluated the associations of landscape composition (percentage of crops) and heterogeneity (diversity of land-cover classes) with plant taxonomical diversity (richness, diversity, evenness), local contribution to beta diversity, and functional diversity (functional richness, evenness, divergence and dispersion) in 20 wild Olea europaea communities appearing within agricultural landscapes of Mallorca Island (Western Mediterranean Basin). In accordance with the IDH, we found that overall plant richness peaked at intermediate levels of crops in the landscape, whereas plant evenness showed the opposite pattern, because richness peak was mainly related to an increase in scarce ruderal species. Plant communities surrounded by very heterogeneous landscapes were those contributing the most to beta diversity and showing the highest functional richness and evenness, likely because diverse landscapes favour the colonization of new species and traits into the communities. In addition, landscape heterogeneity decreased functional divergence (i.e., increased trait overlap of dominant species) which may enhance community resilience against disturbances through a higher functional redundancy. However, a large extent of agriculture in the landscape might reduce such resilience, as this disturbance acted as an environmental filter that decreased functional dispersion (i.e, remaining species shared similar traits). Overall, our study highlights the importance of considering several indices of taxonomical and functional diversity to deeply understand the complex relationships between ecosystems functions and landscape context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joana Cursach
- Research Group on Plant Biology under Mediterranean Conditions, Laboratory of Botany, Department of Biology, University of the Balearic Islands, Palma, Balearic Islands, Spain
- * E-mail:
| | - Juan Rita
- Research Group on Plant Biology under Mediterranean Conditions, Laboratory of Botany, Department of Biology, University of the Balearic Islands, Palma, Balearic Islands, Spain
| | - Carmelo Gómez-Martínez
- Global Change Research Group, Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (UIB-CSIC), Esporles, Balearic Islands, Spain
| | - Carles Cardona
- Interdisciplinary Ecology Group, Laboratory of Botany, Department of Biology, University of the Balearic Islands, Palma, Balearic Islands, Spain
- Centre Forestal de les Illes Balears, Institut Balear de la Natura, Conselleria de Medi Ambient i Territori, Palma, Balearic Islands, Spain
| | - Miquel Capó
- Research Group on Plant Biology under Mediterranean Conditions, Laboratory of Botany, Department of Biology, University of the Balearic Islands, Palma, Balearic Islands, Spain
| | - Amparo Lázaro
- Global Change Research Group, Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (UIB-CSIC), Esporles, Balearic Islands, Spain
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González E, Landis DA, Knapp M, Valladares G. Forest cover and proximity decrease herbivory and increase crop yield via enhanced natural enemies in soybean fields. J Appl Ecol 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.13732] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ezequiel González
- Department of Ecology Faculty of Environmental Sciences Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Prague Czech Republic
- Centro de Investigaciones Entomológicas de Córdoba Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología VegetalUniversidad Nacional de CórdobaCONICET Córdoba Argentina
| | - Douglas A. Landis
- Department of Entomology Michigan State University East Lansing MI USA
| | - Michal Knapp
- Department of Ecology Faculty of Environmental Sciences Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Prague Czech Republic
| | - Graciela Valladares
- Centro de Investigaciones Entomológicas de Córdoba Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología VegetalUniversidad Nacional de CórdobaCONICET Córdoba Argentina
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Petit S, Muneret L, Carbonne B, Hannachi M, Ricci B, Rusch A, Lavigne C. Landscape-scale expansion of agroecology to enhance natural pest control: A systematic review. ADV ECOL RES 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/bs.aecr.2020.09.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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