Junqian Zhang, Zhengfei Li, Jorge García‐Girón, Yihao Ge, Jani Heino, Jiali Yang, Xiong Xiong, Li Ma, Zhicai Xie
Revealing the mechanisms underlying community organization has long been a central interest for ecologists and biogeographers. Recent findings have suggested that different dimensions of biodiversity may be shaped by contrasting ecological processes, offering complementary insights about community assembly. However, studies integrating multiple diversity facets across the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau (QTP) remain insufficient.We combined multiple analytical frameworks to unravel the patterns (taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic) and correlates (local environment, land use and dispersal pathways) of aquatic arthropod diversity in lotic (stream) and lentic (wetland) ecosystems of the QTP.We observed strong phylogenetic signals in most functional traits, pointing to the influence of evolutionary processes on these faunas.Null models indicated that community structure in most streams and wetlands was mostly the result of random draws from the regional functional and phylogenetic species pool. The prevalence of stochasticity was most likely associated with the interplay of the paleogeographical history, the extremely harsh environmental conditions at high elevations and the subsequent impoverishment of the regional species pool.However, some streams and wetlands also exhibited phylogenetic overdispersion and functional clustering, emphasizing the potential importance of competitive exclusion and habitat filtering, respectively.Variation partitioning further revealed that both environmental filtering and dispersal limitation accounted for the spatial variation of diversity measures, with local environment overriding the effects of space and catchment land use.Overall, this study improves our understanding of community organization and diversity patterns in environmentally extreme alpine catchments, with broad implications for the conservation and management of one of the world’s most important high‐altitude treasures.
{"title":"Multiple facets of diversity reveal different patterns and processes in aquatic arthropod communities across the world's most extreme high‐altitude treasure","authors":"Junqian Zhang, Zhengfei Li, Jorge García‐Girón, Yihao Ge, Jani Heino, Jiali Yang, Xiong Xiong, Li Ma, Zhicai Xie","doi":"10.1111/icad.12780","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/icad.12780","url":null,"abstract":"<jats:list> <jats:list-item>Revealing the mechanisms underlying community organization has long been a central interest for ecologists and biogeographers. Recent findings have suggested that different dimensions of biodiversity may be shaped by contrasting ecological processes, offering complementary insights about community assembly. However, studies integrating multiple diversity facets across the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau (QTP) remain insufficient.</jats:list-item> <jats:list-item>We combined multiple analytical frameworks to unravel the patterns (taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic) and correlates (local environment, land use and dispersal pathways) of aquatic arthropod diversity in lotic (stream) and lentic (wetland) ecosystems of the QTP.</jats:list-item> <jats:list-item>We observed strong phylogenetic signals in most functional traits, pointing to the influence of evolutionary processes on these faunas.</jats:list-item> <jats:list-item>Null models indicated that community structure in most streams and wetlands was mostly the result of random draws from the regional functional and phylogenetic species pool. The prevalence of stochasticity was most likely associated with the interplay of the paleogeographical history, the extremely harsh environmental conditions at high elevations and the subsequent impoverishment of the regional species pool.</jats:list-item> <jats:list-item>However, some streams and wetlands also exhibited phylogenetic overdispersion and functional clustering, emphasizing the potential importance of competitive exclusion and habitat filtering, respectively.</jats:list-item> <jats:list-item>Variation partitioning further revealed that both environmental filtering and dispersal limitation accounted for the spatial variation of diversity measures, with local environment overriding the effects of space and catchment land use.</jats:list-item> <jats:list-item>Overall, this study improves our understanding of community organization and diversity patterns in environmentally extreme alpine catchments, with broad implications for the conservation and management of one of the world’s most important high‐altitude treasures.</jats:list-item> </jats:list>","PeriodicalId":13640,"journal":{"name":"Insect Conservation and Diversity","volume":"46 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142248945","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Oliver Poole, Alba Costa, Christopher N. Kaiser‐Bunbury, Rosalind F. Shaw
Pollinator diversity and abundance are under direct threat from human activities. Despite societal dependence on pollinators for crop production, humankind continues to drive pollinator declines through agricultural intensification and urbanisation.Urban environments can provide refuge to some pollinators. There is a need, however, to understand how pollinator communities can be supported in these areas while also considering human needs. Public green spaces provide a promising avenue to target plant–pollinator conservation measures in an urban setting due to their large area, high abundance and low plant–pollinator biodiversity.We used a paired design to compare the plant community, pollinator community and plant–pollinator interactions of (i) public urban green spaces enhanced with wildflower meadows and pollinator‐friendly ornamental plantings to (ii) control unenhanced urban green spaces. The planting types within enhanced sites were also separately compared.Our results show that not only was the diversity of the overall pollinator community higher in enhanced than control sites, but also the complexity of some wild Hymenoptera and the abundance of Diptera pollinator groups. The negative impact of urbanisation on some pollinator groups was reduced in enhanced sites compared with control sites. Planting both pollinator‐friendly ornamental plants and wildflower meadows significantly increased the visits from Diptera and the diversity in the plant–pollinator community compared with wildflower plantings alone.Our results suggest that enhancing public spaces for pollinators has positive effects on key groups and can help mitigate the impacts of urbanisation. Non‐native ornamental plants can also play a role in enhancing green spaces for pollinators while maintaining their recreational functions. This supports a mixed‐planting approach for improving public green spaces in urban areas for both people and nature.
{"title":"Pollinators respond positively to urban green space enhancements using wild and ornamental flowers","authors":"Oliver Poole, Alba Costa, Christopher N. Kaiser‐Bunbury, Rosalind F. Shaw","doi":"10.1111/icad.12779","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/icad.12779","url":null,"abstract":"<jats:list> <jats:list-item>Pollinator diversity and abundance are under direct threat from human activities. Despite societal dependence on pollinators for crop production, humankind continues to drive pollinator declines through agricultural intensification and urbanisation.</jats:list-item> <jats:list-item>Urban environments can provide refuge to some pollinators. There is a need, however, to understand how pollinator communities can be supported in these areas while also considering human needs. Public green spaces provide a promising avenue to target plant–pollinator conservation measures in an urban setting due to their large area, high abundance and low plant–pollinator biodiversity.</jats:list-item> <jats:list-item>We used a paired design to compare the plant community, pollinator community and plant–pollinator interactions of (i) public urban green spaces enhanced with wildflower meadows and pollinator‐friendly ornamental plantings to (ii) control unenhanced urban green spaces. The planting types within enhanced sites were also separately compared.</jats:list-item> <jats:list-item>Our results show that not only was the diversity of the overall pollinator community higher in enhanced than control sites, but also the complexity of some wild Hymenoptera and the abundance of Diptera pollinator groups. The negative impact of urbanisation on some pollinator groups was reduced in enhanced sites compared with control sites. Planting both pollinator‐friendly ornamental plants and wildflower meadows significantly increased the visits from Diptera and the diversity in the plant–pollinator community compared with wildflower plantings alone.</jats:list-item> <jats:list-item>Our results suggest that enhancing public spaces for pollinators has positive effects on key groups and can help mitigate the impacts of urbanisation. Non‐native ornamental plants can also play a role in enhancing green spaces for pollinators while maintaining their recreational functions. This supports a mixed‐planting approach for improving public green spaces in urban areas for both people and nature.</jats:list-item> </jats:list>","PeriodicalId":13640,"journal":{"name":"Insect Conservation and Diversity","volume":"114 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142227514","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Do light vertical gradients in temperate forest structure insect herbivore communities? We tested the hypothesis that the increase in light intensity from understory to forest canopy drives differences in leaf physical traits and bud burst phenology that impact insect herbivores and thus play a role in structuring both herbivore communities and the leaf damage they cause. Understanding these interactions is essential for addressing knowledge gaps in the dynamics of temperate deciduous forest ecosystems.Twelve sugar maple (Acer saccharum) sites were monitored in southern Quebec, examining insect herbivore patterns from understory saplings to mature tree‐shaded and sun canopy (where intensity is highest and canopy cover lowest) over the summers of 2020, 2021 and 2022. Additionally, we recorded leaf physical traits and sun exposure.Our findings revealed that leaf thickness increased along the vertical gradient in 2021, making mature tree leaves in the canopy less favourable to herbivores than understory sapling leaves. Accordingly, we recorded a consistent decrease in insect herbivory damage rates from understory to shaded and to sun canopy in 2020 and 2021, driven by leaf cutters, skeletonizers, stipplers and leaf miners. These results support our hypothesis that variation in leaf physical traits contributes to the vertical stratification of insect damage. This variation in leaf traits can be linked to light levels or to tree ontogeny. In 2022, the gradient of insect herbivore abundance corroborated the observed damage trends from the previous years. We calculated an average annual herbivory rate of 9.1% of the leaf surface in our study site.Overall, our study highlights the importance of vertical gradients in structuring insect herbivore communities and emphasizes the role of leaf traits in mediating these interactions. In addition, the average annual herbivory rate suggests limited evidence supporting a significant contribution of background herbivory to the decline of sugar maple forests.
{"title":"Vertical stratification of leaf physical traits exerts bottom–up pressures on insect herbivory in a sugar maple temperate forest","authors":"Mahsa Hakimara, Emma Despland","doi":"10.1111/icad.12777","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/icad.12777","url":null,"abstract":"<jats:list> <jats:list-item>Do light vertical gradients in temperate forest structure insect herbivore communities? We tested the hypothesis that the increase in light intensity from understory to forest canopy drives differences in leaf physical traits and bud burst phenology that impact insect herbivores and thus play a role in structuring both herbivore communities and the leaf damage they cause. Understanding these interactions is essential for addressing knowledge gaps in the dynamics of temperate deciduous forest ecosystems.</jats:list-item> <jats:list-item>Twelve sugar maple (<jats:italic>Acer saccharum</jats:italic>) sites were monitored in southern Quebec, examining insect herbivore patterns from understory saplings to mature tree‐shaded and sun canopy (where intensity is highest and canopy cover lowest) over the summers of 2020, 2021 and 2022. Additionally, we recorded leaf physical traits and sun exposure.</jats:list-item> <jats:list-item>Our findings revealed that leaf thickness increased along the vertical gradient in 2021, making mature tree leaves in the canopy less favourable to herbivores than understory sapling leaves. Accordingly, we recorded a consistent decrease in insect herbivory damage rates from understory to shaded and to sun canopy in 2020 and 2021, driven by leaf cutters, skeletonizers, stipplers and leaf miners. These results support our hypothesis that variation in leaf physical traits contributes to the vertical stratification of insect damage. This variation in leaf traits can be linked to light levels or to tree ontogeny. In 2022, the gradient of insect herbivore abundance corroborated the observed damage trends from the previous years. We calculated an average annual herbivory rate of 9.1% of the leaf surface in our study site.</jats:list-item> <jats:list-item>Overall, our study highlights the importance of vertical gradients in structuring insect herbivore communities and emphasizes the role of leaf traits in mediating these interactions. In addition, the average annual herbivory rate suggests limited evidence supporting a significant contribution of background herbivory to the decline of sugar maple forests.</jats:list-item> </jats:list>","PeriodicalId":13640,"journal":{"name":"Insect Conservation and Diversity","volume":"10 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142223687","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}