Interactive effects of drought and deforestation on multitrophic communities and aquatic ecosystem functions in the Neotropics-a test using tank bromeliads

Background

Together with the intensification of dry seasons in Neotropical regions, increasing deforestation is expected to exacerbate species extinctions, something that could lead to dramatic shifts in multitrophic communities and ecosystem functions. Recent studies suggest that the effects of habitat loss are greater where precipitation has decreased. Yet, experimental studies of the pure and interactive effects of drought and deforestation at ecosystem level remain scarce.

Methods

Here, we used rainshelters and transplantation from rainforest to open areas of natural microcosms (the aquatic ecosystem and microbial-faunal food web found within the rainwater-filled leaves of tank bromeliads) to emulate drought and deforestation in a full factorial experimental design. We analysed the pure and interactive effects of our treatments on functional community structure (including microorganisms, detritivore and predatory invertebrates), and on leaf litter decomposition in tank bromeliad ecosystems.

Results

Drought or deforestation alone had a moderate impact on biomass at the various trophic level, but did not eliminate species. However, their interaction synergistically reduced the biomass of all invertebrate functional groups and bacteria. Predators were the most impacted trophic group as they were totally eliminated, while detritivore biomass was reduced by about 95%. Fungal biomass was either unaffected or boosted by our treatments. Decomposition was essentially driven by microbial activity, and did not change across treatments involving deforestation and/or drought.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that highly resistant microorganisms such as fungi (plus a few detritivores) maintain key ecosystem functions in the face of drought and habitat change. We conclude that habitat destruction compounds the problems of climate change, that the impacts of the two phenomena on food webs are mutually reinforcing, and that the stability of ecosystem functions depends on the resistance of a core group of organisms. Assuming that taking global action is more challenging than taking local-regional actions, policy-makers should be encouraged to implement environmental action plans that will halt habitat destruction, to dampen any detrimental interactive effect with the impacts of global climate change.

Habitat destruction in wetland affects Ostracoda (Crustacea) species occurrence patterns amid different aquatic habitats

To outline influence of anthropogenic activities on natural aquatic habitats such as wetlands, we sampled ostracods along with measuring several different aquatic variables at four different aquatic bodies between 2019 and 2020 in the Hıdırşeyhler Village (Bolu, Turkey). We found 15 living and 10 subfossil ostracods. Species with high tolerances (Eucypris virens) and/or with swimming abilities (Cypria ophtalmica) were reported from the canal and wetland. Non-swimmer ostracods (e.g., Prionocypris zenkeri) were only found from the creek. Ostracod Watch Model illustrated some species with stenochronal and eurychronal (e.g., Heterocypris incongruens) occurrences per site. CCA results displayed that water temperature and electrical conductivity were the most important explanatory variables on species. Unbiased diversity indices revealed the highest diversity in the canal followed by the creek, wetland, and trough. Wetland diversity exhibited positive and negative correlations with the canal and the creek, respectively. Tukey's pairwise test supported the significant comparisons between the trough, canal, and wetland (p < 0.01). The ratio of tolerant species per station was slightly higher in the canal than the wetland, trough, and creek. This suggests the fact that species encountered from the creek seem to be habitat specific and may be considered more vulnerable to changes in aquatic conditions. Frequency of species encountered in three habitats (wetland, canal, and trough) was significantly changed after the construction (digging and converting the wetland) activities began in August 2019. This activity was a negative impact on species diversity and richness in the wetland area where the diversity sharply dropped down and did not recover during the study. In contrast, this was probably advantage for some cosmoecious species.

Mantled Howler Monkeys (Alouatta palliata) in a Costa Rican Forest Fragment Do Not Modify Activity Budgets or Spatial Cohesion in Response to Anthropogenic Edges

Forest fragmentation increases forest edge relative to forest interior, with lower vegetation quality common for primates in edge zones. Because most primates live in human-modified tropical forests within 1 km of their edges, it is critical to understand how primates cope with edge effects. Few studies have investigated how primates inhabiting a fragment alter their behaviour across forest edge and interior zones. Here we investigate how anthropogenic edges affect the activity and spatial cohesion of mantled howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata) at the La Suerte Biological Research Station (LSBRS), a Costa Rican forest fragment. We predicted the monkeys would spend greater proportions of their activity budget feeding and resting and a lower proportion travelling in edge compared to forest interior to compensate for lower resource availability in the edge. We also predicted that spatial cohesion would be lower in the edge to mitigate feeding competition. We collected data on activity and spatial cohesion (nearest neighbour distance; number of individuals within 5 m) in forest edge and interior zones via instantaneous sampling of focal animals. Contrary to predictions, the monkeys spent equal proportions of time feeding, resting and travelling in forest edge and interior. Similarly, there were no biologically meaningful differences in the number of individuals or the distance between nearest neighbours in the edge (1.0 individuals; 1.56 m) versus the interior (0.8 individuals; 1.73 m). Our results indicate that A. palliata at LSBRS do not adjust their activity or spatial cohesion patterns in response to anthropogenic edge effects, suggesting that the monkeys here exhibit less behavioural flexibility than A. palliata at some other sites. To develop effective primate conservation plans, it is therefore crucial to study primate species' responses to fragmentation across their geographic range.

Breeding habitat loss reveals limited foraging flexibility and increases foraging effort in a colonial breeding seabird

BACKGROUND

Habitat loss can force animals to relocate to new areas, where they would need to adjust to an unfamiliar resource landscape and find new breeding sites. Relocation may be costly and could compromise reproduction.

METHODS

Here, we explored how the Lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus), a colonial breeding seabird species with a wide ecological niche, responds to the loss of its breeding habitat. We investigated how individuals adjusted their foraging behaviour after relocating to another colony due to breeding site destruction, and whether there were any reproductive consequences in the first years after relocation. To this end, we compared offspring growth between resident individuals and individuals that recently relocated to the same colony due to breeding habitat loss. Using GPS-tracking, we further investigated the foraging behaviour of resident individuals in both colonies, as well as that of relocated individuals, as enhanced foraging effort could represent a potential driver of reproductive costs.

RESULTS

We found negative consequences of relocation for offspring development, which were apparent when brood demand was experimentally increased. Recently relocated gulls travelled further distances for foraging than residents, as they often visited more distant foraging sites used by residents breeding in their natal colony as well as new areas outside the home range of the residents in the colony where they settled.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results imply that relocated individuals did not yet optimally adapt to the new food landscape, which was unexpected, given the social information on foraging locations that may have been available from resident neighbours in their new breeding colony. Even though the short-term reproductive costs were comparatively low, we show that generalist species, such as the Lesser black-backed gull, may be more vulnerable to habitat loss than expected. Long term studies are needed to investigate how long individuals are affected by their relocation in order to better assess potential population effects of (breeding) habitat loss.

Metapopulation Allee effects, habitat destruction, and extinction in metacommunities

Previous metapopulation models developed to examine consequences of habitat destruction and metapopulation Allee effects are biologically plausible for only small degrees of habitat destruction. For larger, realistic amounts of habitat destruction, those models fail to capture a metapopulation Allee effect. We here present a new model that allows biologically meaningful metapopulation Allee effects at all feasible levels of habitat destruction. When applied to metacommunities of competitive species that face habitat destruction, this new model shows that metapopulation Allee effects may drastically alter predictions about the fates of the competitors compared to when Allee effects are ignored. In particular, the number of extinctions increase, the times to those extinctions decrease, and the order in which the extinctions occur can change dramatically.