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Bimler MD, Stouffer DB, Martyn TE, Mayfield MM. Plant interaction networks reveal the limits of our understanding of diversity maintenance. Ecol Lett 2024; 27:e14376. [PMID: 38361464 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14376] [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: 06/13/2023] [Revised: 12/17/2023] [Accepted: 12/22/2023] [Indexed: 02/17/2024]
Abstract
Species interactions are key drivers of biodiversity and ecosystem stability. Current theoretical frameworks for understanding the role of interactions make many assumptions which unfortunately, do not always hold in natural, diverse communities. This mismatch extends to annual plants, a common model system for studying coexistence, where interactions are typically averaged across environmental conditions and transitive competitive hierarchies are assumed to dominate. We quantify interaction networks for a community of annual wildflowers in Western Australia across a natural shade gradient at local scales. Whilst competition dominated, intraspecific and interspecific facilitation were widespread in all shade categories. Interaction strengths and directions varied substantially despite close spatial proximity and similar levels of local species richness, with most species interacting in different ways under different environmental conditions. Contrary to expectations, all networks were predominantly intransitive. These findings encourage us to rethink how we conceive of and categorize the mechanisms driving biodiversity in plant systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Malyon D Bimler
- School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Daniel B Stouffer
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Trace E Martyn
- Eastern Oregon Agriculture Research Center-Union Experiment Station, Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, USA
- Eastern Oregon Agriculture and Natural Resource Program, Oregon State University, Oregon, USA
| | - Margaret M Mayfield
- School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
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2
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Zhang A, Chen S, Chen J, Cui H, Jiang X, Xiao S, Wang J, Gao H, An L, Cardoso P. Shrub and precipitation interactions shape functional diversity of nematode communities on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2023; 29:2746-2758. [PMID: 36794472 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16638] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2022] [Accepted: 02/02/2023] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Land use and climate change alter biodiversity patterns and ecosystem functioning worldwide. Land abandonment with consequent shrub encroachment and changes in precipitation gradients are known factors in global change. Yet, the consequences of interactions between these factors on the functional diversity of belowground communities remain insufficiently explored. Here, we investigated the dominant shrub effects on the functional diversity of soil nematode communities along a precipitation gradient on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. We collected three functional traits (life-history C-P value, body mass, and diet) and calculated the functional alpha and beta diversity of nematode communities using kernel density n-dimensional hypervolumes. We found that shrubs did not significantly alter the functional richness and dispersion, but significantly decreased the functional beta diversity of nematode communities in a pattern of functional homogenization. Shrubs benefited nematodes with longer life-history, larger body mass, and higher trophic levels. Moreover, the shrub effects on the functional diversity of nematodes depended strongly on precipitation. Increasing precipitation reversed the effects shrubs have on the functional richness and dispersion from negative to positive but amplified the negative effects shrubs have on functional beta diversity of nematodes. Benefactor shrubs had stronger effects on the functional alpha and beta diversity of nematodes than allelopathic shrubs along a precipitation gradient. A piecewise structural equation model showed that shrubs and its interactions with precipitation indirectly increased the functional richness and dispersion through plant biomass and soil total nitrogen, whereas it directly decreased the functional beta diversity. Our study reveals the expected changes in soil nematode functional diversity following shrub encroachment and precipitation, advancing our understanding of global climate change on nematode communities on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anning Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China
- Key Laboratory of Cell Activities and Stress Adaptations, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China
| | - Shuyan Chen
- Key Laboratory of Cell Activities and Stress Adaptations, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China
| | - Jingwei Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China
| | - Hanwen Cui
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China
| | - Xiaoxuan Jiang
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China
| | - Sa Xiao
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China
| | - Jiajia Wang
- Key Laboratory of Cell Activities and Stress Adaptations, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China
| | - Haining Gao
- College of Life Science and Engineering, Hexi University, Zhangye, Gansu, China
| | - Lizhe An
- Key Laboratory of Cell Activities and Stress Adaptations, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China
| | - Pedro Cardoso
- Laboratory for Integrative Biodiversity Research, Finnish Museum of Natural History Luomus, Helsinki, Finland
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3
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Bodner K, Brimacombe C, Fortin M, Molnár PK. Why body size matters: how larger fish ontogeny shapes ecological network topology. OIKOS 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.08569] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Korryn Bodner
- Dept of Biological Sciences, Univ. of Toronto Scarborough ON Canada
- Dept of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Univ. of Toronto ON Canada
| | - Chris Brimacombe
- Dept of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Univ. of Toronto ON Canada
| | | | - Péter K. Molnár
- Dept of Biological Sciences, Univ. of Toronto Scarborough ON Canada
- Dept of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Univ. of Toronto ON Canada
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4
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Losapio G, Schmid B, Bascompte J, Michalet R, Cerretti P, Germann C, Haenni JP, Neumeyer R, Ortiz-Sánchez FJ, Pont AC, Rousse P, Schmid J, Sommaggio D, Schöb C. An experimental approach to assessing the impact of ecosystem engineers on biodiversity and ecosystem functions. Ecology 2020; 102:e03243. [PMID: 33190225 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2019] [Revised: 08/21/2019] [Accepted: 09/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Plants acting as ecosystem engineers create habitats and facilitate biodiversity maintenance within plant communities. Furthermore, biodiversity research has demonstrated that plant diversity enhances the productivity and functioning of ecosystems. However, these two fields of research developed in parallel and independent from one another, with the consequence that little is known about the role of ecosystem engineers in the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning across trophic levels. Here, we present an experimental framework to study this relationship. We combine facilitation by plants acting as ecosystem engineers with plant-insect interaction analysis and variance partitioning of biodiversity effects. We present a case-study experiment in which facilitation by a cushion-plant species and a dwarf-shrub species as ecosystem engineers increases positive effects of plant functional diversity (ecosystem engineers and associated plants) on ecosystem functioning (flower visitation rate). The experiment, conducted in the field during a single alpine flowering season, included the following treatments: (1) removal of plant species associated with ecosystem engineers, (2) exclusion (covering) of ecosystem engineer flowers, and (3) control, i.e., natural patches of ecosystem engineers and associated plant species. We found both positive and negative associational effects between plants depending on ecosystem engineer identity, indicating both pollination facilitation and interference. In both cases, patches supported by ecosystem engineers increased phylogenetic and functional diversity of flower visitors. Furthermore, complementarity effects between engineers and associated plants were positive for flower visitation rates. Our study reveals that plant facilitation can enhance the strength of biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships, with complementarity between plants for attracting more and diverse flower visitors being the likely driver. A potential mechanism is that synergy and complementarity between engineers and associated plants increase attractiveness for shared visitors and widen pollination niches. In synthesis, facilitation among plants can scale up to a full network, supporting ecosystem functioning both directly via microhabitat amelioration and indirectly via diversity effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gianalberto Losapio
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, 8057, Switzerland.,Department of Environmental Systems Science, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH), Zurich, 8092, Switzerland.,Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, 94305, USA
| | - Bernhard Schmid
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, 8057, Switzerland.,Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Zurich, 8057, Switzerland
| | - Jordi Bascompte
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, 8057, Switzerland
| | - Richard Michalet
- University of Bordeaux, UMR 5805 EPOC, Talence cedex, 33405, France
| | - Pierfilippo Cerretti
- Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie, Università di Roma La Sapienza, Rome, 00185, Italy
| | | | - Jean-Paul Haenni
- Muséum d'histoire Naturelle, Entomologie, Neuchâtel, 2000, Switzerland
| | - Rainer Neumeyer
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, 8057, Switzerland
| | | | - Adrian C Pont
- Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Oxford, OX1 3PW, United Kingdom
| | - Pascal Rousse
- Unité Expertise-Risques Biologiques, Laboratoire de la Santé des Végétaux, ANSES, Angers, 49000, France
| | - Jürg Schmid
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, 8057, Switzerland
| | - Daniele Sommaggio
- Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, 40127, Italy
| | - Christian Schöb
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, 8057, Switzerland.,Department of Environmental Systems Science, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH), Zurich, 8092, Switzerland
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Hutchinson MC, Bramon Mora B, Pilosof S, Barner AK, Kéfi S, Thébault E, Jordano P, Stouffer DB. Seeing the forest for the trees: Putting multilayer networks to work for community ecology. Funct Ecol 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13237] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Matthew C. Hutchinson
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Princeton University Princeton New Jersey
| | - Bernat Bramon Mora
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Biological Sciences University of Canterbury Christchurch New Zealand
| | - Shai Pilosof
- Department of Ecology & Evolution University of Chicago Chicago Illinois
| | - Allison K. Barner
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management University of California Berkeley Berkeley California
| | - Sonia Kéfi
- ISEM, CNRS, Univ. Montpellier, IRD, EPHE Montpellier France
| | - Elisa Thébault
- CNRS, Sorbonne Université Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences of Paris Paris France
| | - Pedro Jordano
- Department of Integrative Ecology Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD‐CSIC) Seville Spain
| | - Daniel B. Stouffer
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Biological Sciences University of Canterbury Christchurch New Zealand
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