A tale of scale: Plot but not neighbourhood tree diversity increases leaf litter ant diversity

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

Diversity of producers (e.g. plants) usually increases the diversity of associated organisms, but the scale (i.e. the spatial area of plant diversity considered) at which plant diversity acts on other taxa has rarely been studied. Most evidence for cross-taxon diversity relations come from above-ground consumers that directly interact with plants. Experimental tests of plant diversity effects on elusive organisms inhabiting the leaf litter layer, which are important for nutrient cycling and decomposition, are rare. Using a large tree diversity experiment, we tested whether tree diversity at the larger plot (i.e. community) or the smaller neighbourhood scale relates to the abundance, species richness, functional and phylogenetic diversity of leaf litter ants, which are dominant organisms in brown food webs. Contrary to our expectations of scale-independent positive tree diversity effects, ant diversity increased only with plot but not neighbourhood tree diversity. While the exact causal mechanisms are unclear, nest relocation or small-scale competition among ants may explain the stronger tree diversity effects at the plot scale. Our results indicate that even for small and less mobile organisms in the leaf litter, effects of tree diversity are stronger at relatively larger scales. The finding emphasizes the importance of diverse forest stands, in which mixing of tree species is not restricted to small patches, for supporting arthropod diversity in the leaf litter.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Animal Ecology
Volume89
Issue number2
Pages (from-to)299-308
Number of pages10
ISSN0021-8790
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01.02.2020

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank B. Schmid and K. Ma for help establishing the BEF-China experiment, X. Yang, S. Both, X. Liu and Y. Bo for coordination, and C. Lin for logistical support. Discussions with G. Pufal improved the text. G. Fischer and F. Hita Garcia checked identifications in taxonomically ambiguous ant genera. The final manuscript benefited from constructive suggestions by the Associate Editor Jean-Philippe Lessard, D. Donoso and an anonymous reviewer. This study was funded by the German Research Foundation (FOR 891/3, KL 1849/6-2) and the Sino-German Centre for Research Promotion (GZ 785).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society.

    Research areas

  • Ecosystems Research - ant functional traits, biodiversity–ecosystem functioning, iodiversity–ecosystem functioning‐China, forests, Formicidae, phylogenetic diversity, Species richness

Documents

DOI

Recently viewed

Publications

  1. Redemption Restored: The Star in the Context of Modernity
  2. Understanding Innovation
  3. In situ synchrotron radiation diffraction study of the role of Gd, Nd on the elevated temperature compression behavior of ZK40
  4. Implications of Material Flow Cost Accounting for Life Cycle Engineering
  5. Why protect nature? Rethinking values and the environment
  6. Productivity and the product scope of multi-product firms:
  7. Legal aspects of satellite-based earth observation
  8. Multiplexed supply of a MISO wireless power transfer system for battery-free wireless sensors
  9. Compressive creep behavior and microstructural evolution of sand-cast and peak-aged Mg–12Gd–0.4Zr alloy at 250 °C
  10. "I put in effort, therefore I am passionate": Investigating the path from effort to passion in entrepreneurship
  11. Exploring the role of intentions and expectations in continuing professional development in sustainability education
  12. Self-determined or non-self-determined? Exploring consumer motivation for sustainable food choices
  13. Nonviolence as a weapon of the resourceful
  14. What's so great about Finland? An introduction to comparative and international education.
  15. Modernization, cultural change, and democracy
  16. Ansätze einer Systematisierung von Energiegenossenschaften
  17. Self-defence against non-state actors
  18. Ohne Form kein Inhalt
  19. Ende des Sozialen? / End of the Social?
  20. Home and fear
  21. Rudolf Hess as a 'Martyr for Germany'
  22. The elephant in the room
  23. The economic determinants of U.S. presidential approval
  24. Das Wissen der Kriminalgeschichte
  25. Die Tischgesellschaft
  26. § 349
  27. U.S. stock prices and the dot.com-bubble
  28. Die Körpersprache gibt den Ton an
  29. Governmental activity and private capital adjustment
  30. DOGMAlen nach Zahlen