Plant phylogenetic diversity influences arthropod communities in tropical forest restoration plots

Consideration of plant phylogenetic diversity in ecological restoration carries substantial potential, as communities with a greater diversity of lineages with older evolutionary histories can increase the diversity of niches and thus are likely to recover larger species networks than communities clustered in specific clades with reduced variation in functional traits. In this study, we experimentally assessed how arthropod communities were affected by the phylogenetic diversity of a set of tropical tree species. We established 12 experimental restoration plots with either high or low plant phylogenetic diversity while maintaining constant the number of plant species. After 1 and 3 years, arthropods with different feeding habits (herbivores, predators, pollinators, and detritivores) were collected and identified as morphospecies or operational taxonomic units using metabarcoding techniques. We provide insights on the influence of plant phylogenetic diversity on arthropod abundance and species diversity, particularly among predator, pollinator, and detritivore common and dominant species, which increased with plant phylogenetic diversity. The trend, however, was the opposite for the diversity of herbivore common and dominant species, which decreased as plant phylogenetic diversity increased. These findings highlight the importance of considering plant species richness when designing restoration strategies, but also their evolutionary histories, as the same number of plant species can produce different outcomes for higher trophic levels, as a function of their phylogenetic relationships.

Abstract in Spanish is available with online material.