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Roos RE, Birkemoe T, Bokhorst S, Wardle DA, Asplund J. The importance of foundation species identity: a field experiment with lichens and their associated micro-arthropod communities. Basic Appl Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.baae.2022.04.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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Almela P, Velázquez D, Rico E, Justel A, Quesada A. Marine Vertebrates Impact the Bacterial Community Composition and Food Webs of Antarctic Microbial Mats. Front Microbiol 2022; 13:841175. [PMID: 35464973 PMCID: PMC9023888 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.841175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2021] [Accepted: 02/28/2022] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The biological activity of marine vertebrates represents an input of nutrients for Antarctic terrestrial biota, with relevant consequences for the entire ecosystem. Even though microbial mats assemble most of the biological diversity of the non-marine Antarctica, the effects of the local macrofauna on these microecosystems remain understudied. Using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, 13C and 15N stable isotopes, and by characterizing the P and N-derived nutrient levels, we evaluated the effects of penguins and other marine vertebrates on four microbial mats located along the Antarctic Peninsula. Our results show that P concentrations, C/N and N/P ratios, and δ15N values of "penguin-impacted" microbial mats were significantly higher than values obtained for "macrofauna-free" sample. Nutrients derived from penguin colonies and other marine vertebrates altered the trophic interactions of communities within microbial mats, as well as the relative abundance and trophic position of meiofaunal groups. Twenty-nine bacterial families from eight different phyla significantly changed with the presence of penguins, with inorganic nitrogen (NH4 + and NO3 -) and δ15N appearing as key factors in driving bacterial community composition. An apparent change in richness, diversity, and dominance of prokaryotes was also related to penguin-derived nutrients, affecting N utilization strategies of microbial mats and relating oligotrophic systems to communities with a higher metabolic versatility. The interdisciplinary approach of this study makes these results advance our understanding of interactions and composition of communities inhabiting microbial mats from Antarctica, revealing how they are deeply associated with marine animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pablo Almela
- Department of Biology, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - David Velázquez
- Department of Biology, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Eugenio Rico
- Department of Ecology, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
- Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Cambio Global (CIBC-UAM), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Ana Justel
- UC3M-Santander Big Data Institute (IBiDat), Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
- Department of Mathematics, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Antonio Quesada
- Department of Biology, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
- Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Cambio Global (CIBC-UAM), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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3
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Ellis CJ, Asplund J, Benesperi R, Branquinho C, Di Nuzzo L, Hurtado P, Martínez I, Matos P, Nascimbene J, Pinho P, Prieto M, Rocha B, Rodríguez-Arribas C, Thüs H, Giordani P. Functional Traits in Lichen Ecology: A Review of Challenge and Opportunity. Microorganisms 2021; 9:766. [PMID: 33917569 PMCID: PMC8067525 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms9040766] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2021] [Revised: 03/28/2021] [Accepted: 03/31/2021] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Community ecology has experienced a major transition, from a focus on patterns in taxonomic composition, to revealing the processes underlying community assembly through the analysis of species functional traits. The power of the functional trait approach is its generality, predictive capacity such as with respect to environmental change, and, through linkage of response and effect traits, the synthesis of community assembly with ecosystem function and services. Lichens are a potentially rich source of information about how traits govern community structure and function, thereby creating opportunity to better integrate lichens into 'mainstream' ecological studies, while lichen ecology and conservation can also benefit from using the trait approach as an investigative tool. This paper brings together a range of author perspectives to review the use of traits in lichenology, particularly with respect to European ecosystems from the Mediterranean to the Arctic-Alpine. It emphasizes the types of traits that lichenologists have used in their studies, both response and effect, the bundling of traits towards the evolution of life-history strategies, and the critical importance of scale (both spatial and temporal) in functional trait ecology.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Johan Asplund
- Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, 5003 NO-1432 Ås, Norway;
| | - Renato Benesperi
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Firenze, Via la Pira, 450121 Florence, Italy; (R.B.); (L.D.N.)
| | - Cristina Branquinho
- Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (cE3c), Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, C2, Piso 5, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal; (C.B.); (P.P.); (B.R.)
| | - Luca Di Nuzzo
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Firenze, Via la Pira, 450121 Florence, Italy; (R.B.); (L.D.N.)
| | - Pilar Hurtado
- Área de Biodiversidad y Conservación, Departamento de Biología, Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica, ESCET, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28933 Móstoles, Spain; (P.H.); (I.M.); marí (M.P.); (C.R.-A.)
- Departamento de Biología (Botánica), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, c/Darwin, 2, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Isabel Martínez
- Área de Biodiversidad y Conservación, Departamento de Biología, Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica, ESCET, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28933 Móstoles, Spain; (P.H.); (I.M.); marí (M.P.); (C.R.-A.)
| | - Paula Matos
- MARE—Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal;
| | - Juri Nascimbene
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, I-40126 Bologna, Italy;
| | - Pedro Pinho
- Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (cE3c), Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, C2, Piso 5, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal; (C.B.); (P.P.); (B.R.)
| | - María Prieto
- Área de Biodiversidad y Conservación, Departamento de Biología, Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica, ESCET, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28933 Móstoles, Spain; (P.H.); (I.M.); marí (M.P.); (C.R.-A.)
| | - Bernardo Rocha
- Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (cE3c), Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, C2, Piso 5, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal; (C.B.); (P.P.); (B.R.)
| | - Clara Rodríguez-Arribas
- Área de Biodiversidad y Conservación, Departamento de Biología, Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica, ESCET, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28933 Móstoles, Spain; (P.H.); (I.M.); marí (M.P.); (C.R.-A.)
| | - Holger Thüs
- Botany Department, State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart, Rosenstein 1, 70191 Stuttgart, Germany;
| | - Paolo Giordani
- DIFAR, University of Genova, Viale Cembrano, 4, I-16148 Genova, Italy;
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Gutiérrez-Larruga B, Estébanez-Pérez B, Ochoa-Hueso R. Effects of Nitrogen Deposition on the Abundance and Metabolism of Lichens: A Meta-analysis. Ecosystems 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s10021-019-00431-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Geiser LH, Nelson PR, Jovan SE, Root HT, Clark CM. Assessing Ecological Risks from Atmospheric Deposition of Nitrogen and Sulfur to US Forests Using Epiphytic Macrolichens. DIVERSITY-BASEL 2019; 11:1-87. [PMID: 34712100 PMCID: PMC8549857 DOI: 10.3390/d11060087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Critical loads of atmospheric deposition help decision-makers identify
levels of air pollution harmful to ecosystem components. But when critical loads
are exceeded, how can the accompanying ecological risk be quantified? We use a
90% quantile regression to model relationships between nitrogen and sulfur
deposition and epiphytic macrolichens, focusing on responses of concern to
managers of US forests: Species richness and abundance and diversity of
functional groups with integral ecological roles. Analyses utilized
national-scale lichen survey data, sensitivity ratings, and modeled deposition
and climate data. We propose 20, 50, and 80% declines in these responses as
cut-offs for low, moderate, and high ecological risk from deposition. Critical
loads (low risk cut-off) for total species richness, sensitive species richness,
forage lichen abundance and cyanolichen abundance, respectively, were 3.5, 3.1,
1.9, and 1.3 kg N and 6.0, 2.5, 2.6, and 2.3 kg S ha−1
yr−1. High environmental risk (80% decline), excluding
total species richness, occurred at 14.8, 10.4, and 6.6 kg N and 14.1, 13, and
11 kg S ha−1 yr−1. These risks were further
characterized in relation to geography, species of conservation concern, number
of species affected, recovery timeframes, climate, and effects on interdependent
biota, nutrient cycling, and ecosystem services.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linda H. Geiser
- Water, Wildlife, Fish, Air & Rare Plants Directorate,
Forest Service, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, 201 14th St SW, Mailstop 1121,
Washington, DC 20250, USA
- Correspondence:
; Tel.: +1-202-756-0068
| | - Peter R. Nelson
- Penobscot Experimental Forest, Northern Research Station,
Forest Service, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, and University of Fort Kent, Maine, 54
Government Road, Bradley, ME 04411, USA
| | - Sarah E. Jovan
- Pacific Northwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S.
Dept. of Agriculture, 620 SW Main St., Suite 502, Portland, OR 97205, USA
| | - Heather T. Root
- Department of Botany, Weber State University, 1415 Edvalson
St., Dept. 2504, Ogden, UT 84408-2505, USA
| | - Christopher M. Clark
- National Center for Environmental Assessment, Office of
Research & Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania
Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460, USA
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Bokhorst S, Convey P, Aerts R. Nitrogen Inputs by Marine Vertebrates Drive Abundance and Richness in Antarctic Terrestrial Ecosystems. Curr Biol 2019; 29:1721-1727.e3. [PMID: 31080085 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.04.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2018] [Revised: 03/07/2019] [Accepted: 04/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Biodiversity is threatened by climate change and other human activities [1], but to assess impacts, we also need to identify the current distribution of species on Earth. Predicting abundance and richness patterns is difficult in many regions and especially so on the remote Antarctic continent, due to periods of snow cover, which limit remote sensing, and the small size of the biota present. As the Earth's coldest continent, temperature and water availability have received particular attention in understanding patterns of Antarctic biodiversity [2], whereas nitrogen availability has received less attention [3]. Nitrogen input by birds is a major nutrient source in many regions on Earth [4-7], and input from penguins and seals is associated with increased plant growth [8-10] and soil respiration [11-13] at some Antarctic locations. However, the consequences of increased nitrogen concentrations in Antarctic mosses and lichens for their associated food web has hardly been addressed [14, 15], despite the fact that nutrient status of primary producers affects the abundance and diversity of higher trophic levels [16, 17]. We show that nitrogen input and δ15N signatures from marine vertebrates are associated with terrestrial biodiversity hotspots well beyond (>1,000 m) their immediate colony borders along the Antarctic Peninsula. Invertebrate abundance and richness was two to eight times higher under penguin and elephant seal influence. The nitrogen footprint area was correlated with the vertebrate population size. These findings improve our ability to predict biogeographical patterns of Antarctic terrestrial biodiversity through knowledge of the location and size of penguin and elephant seal concentrations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stef Bokhorst
- Department of Ecological Science, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
| | - Peter Convey
- British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK
| | - Rien Aerts
- Department of Ecological Science, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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Veen GFC, De Long JR, Kardol P, Sundqvist MK, Snoek LB, Wardle DA. Coordinated responses of soil communities to elevation in three subarctic vegetation types. OIKOS 2017. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.04158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- G. F. Ciska Veen
- Dept of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences; Umeå Sweden
| | - Jonathan R. De Long
- Dept of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences; Umeå Sweden
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The Univ. of Manchester; Manchester England
| | - Paul Kardol
- Dept of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences; Umeå Sweden
| | - Maja K. Sundqvist
- Dept of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå Univ.; Umeå Sweden
- Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Natural History Museum of Denmark, Univ. of Copenhagen; Copenhagen Denmark
| | - L. Basten Snoek
- Dept of Terrestrial Ecology, Netherlands Inst. of Ecology PO Box 50; NL-6700 AB, Wageningen Netherlands
- Laboratory of Nematology, Wageningen Univ.; Wageningen Netherlands
| | - David A. Wardle
- Dept of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences; Umeå Sweden
- Asian School of the Environment, Nanyang Technological Univ.; Singapore
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Asplund J, Wardle DA. How lichens impact on terrestrial community and ecosystem properties. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2016; 92:1720-1738. [PMID: 27730713 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12305] [Citation(s) in RCA: 121] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2016] [Revised: 09/14/2016] [Accepted: 09/16/2016] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Lichens occur in most terrestrial ecosystems; they are often present as minor contributors, but in some forests, drylands and tundras they can make up most of the ground layer biomass. As such, lichens dominate approximately 8% of the Earth's land surface. Despite their potential importance in driving ecosystem biogeochemistry, the influence of lichens on community processes and ecosystem functioning have attracted relatively little attention. Here, we review the role of lichens in terrestrial ecosystems and draw attention to the important, but often overlooked role of lichens as determinants of ecological processes. We start by assessing characteristics that vary among lichens and that may be important in determining their ecological role; these include their growth form, the types of photobionts that they contain, their key functional traits, their water-holding capacity, their colour, and the levels of secondary compounds in their thalli. We then assess how these differences among lichens influence their impacts on ecosystem and community processes. As such, we consider the consequences of these differences for determining the impacts of lichens on ecosystem nutrient inputs and fluxes, on the loss of mass and nutrients during lichen thallus decomposition, and on the role of lichenivorous invertebrates in moderating decomposition. We then consider how differences among lichens impact on their interactions with consumer organisms that utilize lichen thalli, and that range in size from microfauna (for which the primary role of lichens is habitat provision) to large mammals (for which lichens are primarily a food source). We then address how differences among lichens impact on plants, through for example increasing nutrient inputs and availability during primary succession, and serving as a filter for plant seedling establishment. Finally we identify areas in need of further work for better understanding the role of lichens in terrestrial ecosystems. These include understanding how the high intraspecific trait variation that characterizes many lichens impacts on community assembly processes and ecosystem functioning, how multiple species mixtures of lichens affect the key community- and ecosystem-level processes that they drive, the extent to which lichens in early succession influence vascular plant succession and ecosystem development in the longer term, and how global change drivers may impact on ecosystem functioning through altering the functional composition of lichen communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johan Asplund
- Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, PO Box 5003, NO-1432 Ås, Norway
| | - David A Wardle
- Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-901 83, Umeå, Sweden
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Asplund J, Gauslaa Y, Merinero S. The role of fungal parasites in tri-trophic interactions involving lichens and lichen-feeding snails. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2016; 211:1352-1357. [PMID: 27094697 DOI: 10.1111/nph.13975] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2016] [Accepted: 03/17/2016] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Lichens are hosts for a variety of lichenicolous fungi. By investigating two lichens with specialized parasites, we will test the hypothesis that these parasites reduce lichen fitness by increasing the palatability of their respective hosts. The palatability of Lobarina scrobiculata and Lobaria pulmonaria with or without galls of the lichenicolous fungi, Plectocarpon scrobiculatae and P. lichenum, respectively, were quantified in a feeding-preference experiment with grazing snails (Cepaea hortensis). We repeated the experiment for pairs with or without gall in which the carbon-based secondary compounds (CBSCs) had been reduced nondestructively by acetone rinsing. Lichens with galls had lower concentration of CBSCs than those without, but this contrast disappeared after acetone rinsing. In the lichen high in nitrogen (N) (the cyanolichen L. scrobiculata), the grazing was low, and the snails did not discriminate between specimens with and without Plectocarpon-galls. In L. pulmonaria low in N (green algae as main photobiont), the parasite reduced the lichen C : N ratio and the snails strongly preferred specimens with Plectocarpon-galls, regardless of whether CBSC concentration had been reduced or not. In conclusion, some lichen parasites can indirectly reduce lichen fitness by increasing its palatability and thus the grazing pressure from snails, whereas other parasites do not affect grazing preferences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johan Asplund
- Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, PO Box 5003, NO-1432, Ås, Norway
| | - Yngvar Gauslaa
- Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, PO Box 5003, NO-1432, Ås, Norway
| | - Sonia Merinero
- Área de Biodiversidad y Conservación, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, E-28933, Móstoles, Madrid, Spain
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Asplund J, Bokhorst S, Kardol P, Wardle DA. Removal of secondary compounds increases invertebrate abundance in lichens. FUNGAL ECOL 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/j.funeco.2015.07.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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11
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Usnea antarctica, an important Antarctic lichen, is vulnerable to aspects of regional environmental change. Polar Biol 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/s00300-015-1803-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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