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opencc-zeroOct 2022View details →

Data and code for: Diversity-dependent diversification in the history of marine animals

By comparing detrended estimates of diversity (taxonomic richness) and rates of origination, extinction, and net diversification, I show that, at the global scale over the course of the Phanerozoic Eon, rates of diversification and origination are negatively correlated with diversity. By contrast, extinction rates are only weakly correlated with diversity for the most part. These results hold for both genus- and species-level data and for many alternative analytical protocols. The asymmetry between extinction on the one hand and origination and net diversification, on the other hand, supports a model whereby extinction is largely driven by abiotic perturbations, with subsequent origination filling the void left by depleted diversity. Diversity-dependence is somewhat weaker, but still evident, if the initial Ordovician radiation or rebounds from major mass extinctions are omitted from analysis; thus, diversity-dependence is influenced, but not dominated, by these special intervals of Earth history. In the transition from Paleozoic to post-Paleozoic time, diversity-dependence of origination weakens while that of extinction strengthens; however, diversity-dependence of net diversification barely changes in strength. Despite nuances, individual clades largely yield results consistent with those for the aggregate data on all animals. On the whole, diversity-dependent diversification appears to be a pervasive factor in the macroevolution of marine animal life.

opencc-zeroDec 2021View details →

Reciprocal bark exchange helps to disentangle tree species dependent bark and wood trait effects on invertebrate diversity

1. Previous studies showed that bark cover at early-decay stage had profound control on the invertebrate assemblages of bark and wood, with possible consequence for the decomposition process. However, previous experimental designs could not disentangle how bark versus wood traits affect the invertebrate assemblage process in bark and/or wood separately because wood traits of different tree species may vary independently from bark traits. Furthermore, we do not know whether such tree species specific bark trait effects are still influential at mid-decay stage. 2. To unravel whether and how bark and wood traits influence invertebrate communities in tree logs at mid-decay stage, we introduce reciprocal bark transplantation within pairs of different tree species as a new method. We applied this method to two pairs of phylogenetically contrasting species of gymnosperms (pair I: Araucaria araucana and Cryptomeria japonica, pair II: Picea abies and Thuja plicata) and another gymnosperm (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana) set as disturbance control to test for potential bark manipulation artefacts on invertebrate community composition. 3. Our bark exchange experiment revealed that both bark and wood host abundant and divergent subsets of invertebrates on mid-decay logs of different tree species. We further documented that the invertebrate community composition was predominantly shaped by the traits of host tissue per se, while also being significantly but less strongly affected by the traits of the other tissue, i.e. the adjacent bark or wood. Our results indicated that bark trait effects faded with time and how long bark trait effects persist greatly depends on bark thickness. 4. Synthesis. Our study suggests that maintaining deadwood heterogeneity related to variation between tree species, and to bark versus wood, is important for nursing a large biodiversity of invertebrates. Combined with bark removal methodology, our bark exchange method can be further extended to more decay stages and more forest biomes to track bark trait effects and bark induced priority effects on deadwood decomposition, and its associated invertebrate and microbial communities.

Fig.1 in Species Diversity Of Wetland Birds, Depending On Area, Overgrowth Of Water Bodies On The Example Of Sovskie Ponds (Ukraine)

Fig.1. Map of the study areas.

Fig 6 in Species Diversity Of Wetland Birds, Depending On Area, Overgrowth Of Water Bodies On The Example Of Sovskie Ponds (Ukraine)

Fig 6. Shannon Index of nesting bird species depending on the area overgrown with macrophytes.

Fig. 4 in Species Diversity Of Wetland Birds, Depending On Area, Overgrowth Of Water Bodies On The Example Of Sovskie Ponds (Ukraine)

Fig. 4. The number of nesting pairs depending on the area owergrown with macrophytes.

Fig. 3 in Species Diversity Of Wetland Birds, Depending On Area, Overgrowth Of Water Bodies On The Example Of Sovskie Ponds (Ukraine)

Fig. 3. The number of nesting bird species depending on the area owergrown with macrophytes.

opencc-zeroAug 2021View details →

Biodiversity scale-dependence and opposing multi-level correlations underlie differences among taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity

Aim: Biodiversity is a multi-dimensional property of biological communities that represents different information depending on how it is measured, but how dimensions relate to one another and under what conditions is not well understood. We explore how taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity can differ in scale-of-effect dependence and habitat-biodiversity relationships, and subsequently how spatial differences among biodiversity dimensions may arise. Location: Nebraska, United States Time period: May-July 2016, 2017 Major taxa studied: Birds Methods: Across 2016 and 2017, we conducted 2,641 point counts at 781 sites. We modeled the occupancy of 141 species using Bayesian Bernoulli-Bernoulli hierarchical logistic regressions. We calculated species richness (SR), phylogenetic diversity (PD), and functional diversity (FD) for each site and year based on predicted occupancy, accounting for imperfect detection. Using Bayesian latent indicator scale selection and multivariate modeling, we quantified the spatial scales-of-effect that best explained the relationships between environmental characteristics and SR, PD, and FD. Additionally, we decomposed the residual between- and within-site biodiversity correlations using our repeated measures design. Results: We demonstrate spatial differences among biodiversity predictions, arising from scale-dependence in habitat-biodiversity relationships and variation in correlation structure among biodiversity dimensions. Although relationships between specific land cover types and SR, PD and FD were qualitatively similar, the spatial scales at which these variables were important in explaining biodiversity differed among dimensions. Between-site residual biodiversity correlations were negative, yet within-site biodiversity residual correlations were positive. Main conclusions: Our results demonstrate how spatial differences among biodiversity dimensions may arise from biodiversity-specific scale-dependent habitat relationships, low shared environmental correlations and opposing residual correlations between dimensions, which suggest that single-scale and single-dimension analyses are not entirely appropriate for quantifying habitat-biodiversity relationships. After accounting for shared habitat relationships, we found positive within-site residual correlations between taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity, suggesting that habitat change over time influenced all biodiversity dimensions relatively similarly. However, negative between-site residual correlation among biodiversity dimensions may indicate trade-offs in achieving maximum biodiversity across multiple biodiversity dimensions at any given location. Although habitat management can to a limited degree improve biodiversity relatively across all metrics, other environmental effects may ensure that not all facets of biodiversity can be maximized at once. If maximizing a specific biodiversity dimension is the goal, then care should be taken to consider these within-site residual correlations.

opencc-zeroDec 2022View details →

Dataset from: Warming effects on grassland productivity depend on plant diversity

Aim: Climate warming and biodiversity loss both alter plant productivity, yet we lack an understanding of how biodiversity regulates the responses of ecosystems to warming. In this study, we examine how plant diversity regulates the responses of grassland productivity to experimental warming using meta-analytic techniques. Location: Global Major taxa studied: Grassland ecosystems Methods: Our meta-analysis is based on warming responses of 40 different plant communities obtained from 20 independent studies on grasslands across five continents. Results: Our results show that plant diversity and its responses to warming were the most important factors regulating the warming effects on plant productivity, among all the factors considered (plant diversity, climate and experimental settings). Specifically, warming increased plant productivity when plant diversity (indicated by effective number of species) in grasslands was lesser than 10, whereas warming decreased plant productivity when plant diversity was greater than 10. Moreover, the structural equation modelling showed that the magnitude of warming enhanced plant productivity by increasing the performance of dominant plant species in grasslands of diversity lesser than 10. The negative effects of warming on productivity in grasslands with plant diversity greater than 10 were partly explained by diversity-induced decline in plant dominance. Main Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the positive or negative effect of warming on grassland productivity depends on how biodiverse a grassland is. This could mainly owe to differences in how warming may affect plant dominance and subsequent shifts in interspecific interactions in grasslands of different plant diversity levels.

opencc-zeroJan 2023View details →

Tree diversity effects on soil microbial biomass and respiration are context-dependent across forest diversity experiments

Aim Soil microorganisms are essential for the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. Although soil microbial communities and functions may be linked to tree species composition and diversity, there has been no comprehensive study of how general these potential relationships are, or if they are context-dependent. Here, we examine tree diversity–soil microbial biomass and respiration relationships across environmental gradients using a global network of tree diversity experiments. Location Global Time Period 2013 Major Taxa Studied Soil microorganisms Methods Soil samples collected from eleven tree diversity experiments in four biomes were used to measure microbial respiration, biomass, and respiratory quotient using the substrate-induced respiration method. All samples were measured using the same analytical device, method, and procedure to reduce measurement bias. We used linear mixed-effects models and PCA to examine the effects of tree diversity (taxonomic and phylogenetic), environmental conditions, and interactions on soil microbial properties. Results Abiotic drivers, mainly soil water content, but also soil carbon and soil pH, significantly increased soil microbial biomass and respiration. Optimal soil water content reduced the importance of other abiotic drivers. Tree diversity alone had no effect on the soil microbial properties, but interactions with phylogenetic diversity indicated that diversity effects are context-dependent and stronger in drier soils. Similar results were found for soil carbon and soil pH. Main conclusions Our results point to the importance of abiotic variables and especially soil water content for maintaining high levels of soil microbial functions and modulating the effects of other environmental drivers. Planting tree species with diverse water-use strategies and structurally complex canopies and high leaf area may crucial for maintaining high soil microbial biomass and respiration. Since higher phylogenetic distance alleviated unfavorable soil water conditions, reforestation efforts accounting for traits improving soil water content or choosing more phylogenetically distant species may assist in increasing soil microbial functions.

opencc-zeroFeb 2023View details →

Patterns of frequency and density dependence are highly variable in diverse annual flowering plant communities

Applications of ecological theory to natural communities often assume that competitive, negative density-dependent processes are the only type of interaction important for diversity maintenance. Recent advances suggest that positive interactions within trophic levels (e.g. plant-plant) may also affect plant coexistence. Though positive plant-plant interactions theoretically might result in positive or nonmonotonic frequency or density dependence (FD/DD), less is known about how commonly these patterns occur, or which ecological processes might result in such patterns in natural plant communities. In this study, we test for signals of variable frequency and density dependence in annual flowering plant communities in Western Australia and search for evidence that interactions among plants during flowering might induce positive or nonmonotonic FD/DD in flowering plants. Using four common annual wildflower species, we ask if plant fecundity exhibits positive or nonmonotonic FD/DD and if pollinator-mediated plant-plant interactions during flowering change patterns of FD/DD relative to pollinator-independent plant interactions. Three species exhibited nonmonotonic (hump-shaped) density dependence, and only one species experienced strictly negative density dependence. Each species exhibited a different pattern of frequency dependence (positive, negative, weakly nonmonotonic, and no detectable frequency dependence). Pollinator-mediated plant-plant interactions during flowering induced both nonmonotonic density dependence and negative frequency dependence in one species. Importantly, the extent of variation in FD/DD observed in our study brings into question the dominance of negative density and frequency dependence in theory, suggesting instead that demographic responses of plants to their communities fall along a continuum of possible density- and frequency-dependent patterns.

opencc-zeroDec 2022View details →

Data from: Climatic water availability mainly drives context-dependency of tree functional diversity effects on soil organic carbon storage in European forests

The interplay of forest stand and environmental factors shape soil organic C (SOC) storage in forest ecosystems but little is known about their relative impacts in different soil layers. Moreover, how environmental factors modulate the impact of stand factors, particularly species mixing, on SOC storage, is largely unexplored. In this study conducted in 21 forest triplets (two-species mixed stand and respective monocultures nearby) distributed in Europe, we tested the hypothesis that stand factors (functional identity and diversity) have stronger effects on topsoil (FF+0-10 cm) C storage than environmental factors (climatic water availability, clay+silt content, oxalate-extractable Al - Alox) but that the opposite occurs in the subsoil (10-40 cm). We also tested the hypothesis that functional diversity improves SOC storage under high climatic water availability, clay+silt contents, Alox. We characterized functional identity as the proportion of broadleaved species (beech and/or oak), and functional diversity as the product of broadleaved and conifer (pine) proportions. The results show that functional identity was the main driver of topsoil C storage while climatic water availability had the largest control on subsoil C storage. Contrary to expectations, functional diversity decreased topsoil C storage under increasing climatic water availability but the opposite was observed in the subsoil. Functional diversity effects on topsoil C increased with increasing clay+silt content, while its effects on subsoil C was negative at increasing Alox content. This suggests that functional diversity effect on SOC storage along environmental gradients depends on the specific environmental factor and the soil depth under consideration.

opencc-by-4.0Jul 2023View details →

The positive effect of plant diversity on soil carbon depends on climate

The three files contain all data (Data S1) and all R code to produce all tables and figures of the manuscript entitled "The positive effect of plant diversity on soil carbon depends on climate".

opencc-zeroOct 2023View details →

Dataset: Plant-mediated effects of fire and fragmentation drive plant–pollinator interaction β-diversity in fire-dependent pine savannas

Interaction β-diversity is a measure essential for understanding and conserving species interactions and ecosystem functioning. Interaction β-diversity explains the variation in species interactions across spatial and temporal gradients, resulting from species turnover or interaction rewiring. Each component of interaction β-diversity has different ecological implications and practical consequences. While interaction β-diversity due to species turnover is related to assembly processes and fragmentation, rewiring can support high biodiversity and confer resilience to ecological networks. However, it is unclear whether both components respond to the same or different ecological drivers. Here, we assessed the ecological drivers of plant–pollinator interaction β-diversity and its components across 24 sites in 9 longleaf pine (LLP) savannas in north and central Florida. We evaluated the effects of flowering plant composition and flower abundance, vegetation, fire regime, soil moisture, terrain characteristics, climate, spatial context and geographic location. We used path analysis to evaluate the drivers of spatial interaction β-diversity and its main components. We then used generalized linear mixed models to assess the temporal patterns of spatial β-diversity among sites within preserves. We found that plant–pollinator networks in LLP savannas are highly variable across space and time, mainly due to species turnover and possibly in response to abiotic gradients and dispersal boundaries. Flower abundance and flowering plant composition, geographic location, fire seasonality, soil moisture, and landscape context were the main drivers of plant–pollinator β-diversity, highlighting the role of fire management and habitat connectivity in preserving plant–pollinator networks.