TY - JOUR

T1 - A tale of scale: Plot but not neighbourhood tree diversity increases leaf litter ant diversity

AU - Skarbek, Carl J.

AU - Noack, Merle

AU - Bruelheide, Helge

AU - Härdtle, Werner

AU - Oheimb, Goddert

AU - Scholten, Thomas

AU - Seitz, Steffen

AU - Staab, Michael

N1 - 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.

PY - 2020/2/1

Y1 - 2020/2/1

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - Ecosystems Research

KW - ant functional traits

KW - biodiversity-ecosystem functioning

KW - BEF-China

KW - forests

KW - Formicidae

KW - phylogenetic diversity

KW - species richness

KW - ant functional traits

KW - biodiversity–ecosystem functioning,

KW - iodiversity–ecosystem functioning‐China

KW - forests

KW - Formicidae

KW - phylogenetic diversity

KW - Species richness

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85074073839&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/cde58e30-c74a-3951-be3d-342ab2a8b795/

U2 - 10.1111/1365-2656.13115

DO - 10.1111/1365-2656.13115

M3 - Journal articles

C2 - 31562768

VL - 89

SP - 299

EP - 308

JO - Journal of Animal Ecology

JF - Journal of Animal Ecology

SN - 0021-8790

IS - 2

ER -