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opencc-zeroFeb 2023View details →

Sponge presence increases the diversity and abundance of fish and invertebrates in a subtropical seagrass bed

Ecosystem engineers (e.g., seagrasses) can have profound effects on biodiversity and community structure. Sponges possess many traits (e.g., create complex structure) that suggest they may act as ecosystem engineers, but we know little about their relationships with the animal communities that inhabit seagrass beds. This study explored the effects of the marine sponge, Ircinia felix, on fish and invertebrate taxa richness, abundance, turnover, and community composition in a seagrass bed through a 1-year field experiment performed in The Bahamas. We recorded the fish and invertebrate communities present in 5 × 5 m plots with the addition of either a live sponge, a polypropylene sponge replica (structure), or no additional structure (control). Both taxonomic groups responded similarly to the addition of a live sponge. Taxa richness and abundance increased at least 4-fold over a year in the presence of I. felix but decreased 2-fold or more in the other plot types. Live sponge presence increased the number of new taxa gained by at least 24% and reduced the number of taxa lost compared to other plot types. Finally, we found that the fish community shifted in a more consistent direction in the presence of a live sponge than in the other plots. Our study shows that sponges can act as ecosystem engineers in subtropical seagrass systems; however, additional research is needed to determine the full extent and implications of their ecological effects.

opencc-by-4.0Dec 2022View details →

Fig 1 in Invertebrate Communities Associated To Parastacus Pugnax (Decapoda, Parastacidae) Northern Patagonian Populations (38° S, Araucania, Chile): A First Exploratory Analysis

Fig 1. Cluster analysis for invertebrate communities reported for sites included in the present study.

opencc-zeroApr 2023View details →

Invertebrates on fungal fruit bodies

Fungi and invertebrates comprise a major part of biodiversity in dead wood ecosystems and invertebrates depend on fungi to utilise the dead wood resource. Many invertebrates also visit the long‐lived fruit bodies of wood‐decay fungi to feed on spores, the hymenium or other invertebrates. However, as traditional sampling methods are labour‐intensive, we know little of these interactions. In this study, we use time‐lapse cameras to monitor invertebrates visiting the hymenium of a common wood‐decay fungus, Fomitopsis pinicola, and explain their activity in terms of temporal variation, temperature and presence of Gyrophaena boleti, a highly abundant fungivorous beetle living primarily in fruit bodies of F. pinicola. The most common invertebrates on F. pinicola fruit bodies were Coleoptera, Araneae, Diptera, Gastropoda and Chilopoda. The invertebrate activity exhibited strong temporal variation with higher abundance during night and, for Coleoptera, earlier in the season. We discuss how this might correlate with the sporulation period of F. pinicola. The presence of G. boleti had a positive impact on the predatory Lordithon lunulatus and Ipidia binotata, and a negative impact on the fungivorous Thymalus limbatus and Peltis ferruginea. Chilopoda and L. lunulatus were ephemeral visitors, while the fungivorous Coleoptera and Araneae stayed the longest. We estimated the invertebrates' visitation frequency and duration, which would be time‐consuming to obtain with traditional methods. We offer improvements to our method and urge future research on invertebrate–fungus interactions to quantify invertebrate visits to fungal fruit bodies. <ol class="list"></ol>

opencc-zeroMay 2023View details →

Resource quantity and quality differentially control stream invertebrate biodiversity across spatial scales

Resource quantity controls biodiversity across spatial scales, however the importance of resource quality to cross-scale patterns in species richness has seldom been explored. We evaluated the relationship between stream basal resource quantity (periphyton chlorophyll-a) and invertebrate richness and compared this to the relationship of resource quality (periphyton stoichiometry) and richness at local and regional scales across 27 North American streams. At the local scale, invertebrate richness peaked at intermediate levels of chlorophyll-a, but had a shallow negative relationship with periphyton C:P and N:P. However, at the regional scale richness had a strong negative relationship with both chlorophyll-a and periphyton C:P and N:P. The divergent effects of periphyton chl-a and stoichiometry on invertebrate richness suggest that basal resource quantity limits diversity more than resource quality, consistent with patterns of eutrophication. Collectively, we demonstrate that resource quantity and quality play important, yet differing roles in shaping freshwater biodiversity across spatial scale.

opencc-by-4.0Aug 2023View details →

BINV-D-23-00094_Terrestrial_invertebrate_dataset

Datasets associated with paper published in Biological Invasions (manuscript ref: BINV-D-23-00094). Terrestrial soil surface invertebrate dataset describing pitfall trap invertebrate species richness, abundance and biomass and quadrat sampling arthropod biomass with associated environmental data to test the effects of non-native small mammal introductions on farmland hedgerow biodiversity throughout Ireland.

opencc-zeroAug 2023View details →

Functional biogeography of coastal marine invertebrates along the south-eastern Pacific coast

Characterizing the spatial structure of taxonomic and functional diversity (FD) of marine organisms across regional and latitudinal scales is essential for improving our understanding of the processes driving species richness and those that may constrain or enhance the set of species traits that define the functional structure of communities. Here, we present the functional diversity of coastal invertebrate macrofaunal species along the south-eastern Pacific, from 7°N to 56°S, we describe spatial variation of species traits, and examine the relationship with environmental variables. We define the functional traits and the distribution range of 2350 marine macroinvertebrates to calculate eight metrics of FD. Random forest regression was applied to identify significant relationships between FD and six environmental variables. Finally, functional ß-turnover was estimated to detect alongshore shifts in functional structure and their coincidence with biogeographical domains. In contrast with taxonomic richness, measures of trait differences, functional space and functional specialisation increase with latitude, while functional evenness exhibits a humpback shape, peaking at mid-latitudes. Functional redundancy decreases significantly poleward, while indications of vulnerability increase. In contrast to taxonomic richness, FD was tightly connected to variables indicative of stress and productivity, such as dissolved oxygen and nutrients. Sea surface temperature and coastal area best explained the increased FD redundancy towards the tropics. The high spatial correlation between taxonomic and functional ß-turnover suggests environmental filters play an important role in the functional structure of the seascape. Our findings suggest that processes favouring taxonomic richness are latitudinally divergent from those favouring functional diversity. Correlations with environmental variables suggest that increased sea surface temperature and measures of stability increase redundancy, while variation in dissolved oxygen and nutrients positively affect functional diversification. Moreover, the functional diversity patterns suggest low resilience of high-latitude coastal ecosystems, which are heavily exploited and threatened by climate change, hence highlighting the urgent need for effective conservation policies.

Fig. 5 in Aquatic invertebrate communities of perennial pans in Mpumalanga, South Africa: a diversity and functional approach

Fig. 5. RDA tri-plot illustrating the similarities between the various sites (and surveys) and the physicochemical variables. The tri-plot describes 45.3 % of the variation, with 22.3 % being described on the first axis and 23 % on the second axis. Only the taxa of which more than 10 % is explained by the model and the 15 most significant environmental variables are visualised.

Fig. 2 in Aquatic invertebrate communities of perennial pans in Mpumalanga, South Africa: a diversity and functional approach

Fig. 2. MDS ordination of the invertebrate communities (diversity) of the selected pans with similarities based on agglomerative cluster analysis overlain. Numbers 1–9 represent the different pans, while repeated numbers represent the various sampling occasions.

Fig. 4 in Aquatic invertebrate communities of perennial pans in Mpumalanga, South Africa: a diversity and functional approach

Fig. 4. Mean and standard deviation of the Shannon diversity index, Simpson's index, Margalef's species richness index, and Pielou's evenness index for each of the pans. The mean was obtained from the results of the various sampling surveys and as a result, the standard deviation indicates seasonal variation.

Fig. 1 in Aquatic invertebrate communities of perennial pans in Mpumalanga, South Africa: a diversity and functional approach

Fig. 1. Location of the various pans included in the study. Pans 1, 2 and 8 are influenced by mining activities, pan 3 by agricultural activities, and pans 4–7 and 9 are located in an area with few anthropogenic activities.

Fig. 3 in Aquatic invertebrate communities of perennial pans in Mpumalanga, South Africa: a diversity and functional approach

Fig. 3. MDS ordination of the community traits of the selected pans with similarities based on agglomerative cluster analysis overlain. Numbers 1–9 represent the different pans, while repeated numbers represent the various sampling occasions.