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97 results for “ecosystem engineering”
Data from: Do an ecosystem engineer and environmental gradient act independently or in concert to shape juvenile plant communities? Tests with the leaf-cutter ant Atta laevigata in a Neotropical savanna
Background. Ecosystem Engineers are species that transform habitats in ways that influence other species. While the impacts of many engineers have been well described, our understanding of how their impact varies along environmental gradients remains limited. Although disentangling the effects of gradients and engineers on biodiversity is complicated – the gradients themselves can be altered by engineers – doing so is necessary to advance conceptual and mathematical models of ecosystem engineering. We used leaf-cutter ants (Atta spp.) to investigate the relative influence of gradients and environmental engineers on the abundance and species richness of woody plants. Methods. We conducted our research in South America's Cerrado. With a survey of plant recruits along a canopy cover gradient, and data on environmental conditions that influence plant recruitment, we fit statistical models that addressed the following questions: (1) Does A. laevigata modify the gradient in canopy cover found in our Cerrado site? (2) Do environmental conditions that influence woody plant establishment in the Cerrado vary with canopy cover or proximity to A. laevigata nests? (3) Do A. laevigata and canopy cover act independently or in concert to influence recruit abundance and species richness? Results. We found that environmental conditions previously shown to influence plant establishment in the Cerrado varied in concert with canopy cover, but that ants are not modifying the cover gradient or cover over nests. However, ants are modifying other local environmental conditions, and the magnitude and spatial extent of these changes is consistent across the gradient. In contrast to prior studies, we found that ant-related factors (e.g., proximity to nests, ant changes in surface conditions), rather than canopy cover, had the strongest effect on the abundance of plant recruits. However, the diversity of plants was influenced by both the engineer and the canopy cover gradient. Discussion. Atta laevigata in the Cerrado modify local conditions in ways that have strong but spatially restricted consequences for plant communities. We hypothesize that ants indirectly reduce seedling establishment by clearing litter and reducing soil moisture, which leads to seed and seedling desiccation. Altering soil nutrients could also reduce juvenile growth and survivorship; if so these indirect negative effects of engineering could exacerbate their direct effects of harvesting plants. The effects of Atta appear restricted to nest mounds, but they could be long-lasting because mounds persist long after a colony has died or migrated. Our results support the hypothesis that leaf-cutter ants play a dominant role in Cerrado plant demography. We suggest the ecological and economic footprint of these engineers may increase dramatically in coming decades due to the transformation of the Cerrado by human activities.
Data from: Animals alter precipitation legacies: trophic and ecosystem engineering effects on plant community temporal dynamics
1. Multi-year precipitation 'legacies' can have stronger effects on plant community composition than rainfall in the current growing season, but variation in the magnitude of these effects is not fully understood. Direct interactions between plants and animals, such as herbivory, and indirect interactions, such as ecosystem engineering (via changes in the physical environment), may influence precipitation legacies by altering mechanisms of lagged effects. However, the role of direct and indirect plant-animal interactions in determining the strength of precipitation legacies remains largely unexplored. 2. Here, we investigated effects of current growing season rainfall and precipitation legacies on grassland composition, and the influence of herbivory and ecosystem engineering interactions on these temporal dynamics. From 2009 to 2014, a period spanning high and low rainfall, we recorded plant cover in kangaroo rat exclosures and paired control plots that included both burrow and inter-burrow areas. We used linear mixed effects modeling and analysis of community dissimilarities to evaluate plant composition responses to current and previous growing season rainfall and kangaroo rat herbivory (presence of seed foraging) and ecosystem engineering (burrowing). 3. We found that community composition was more strongly affected by precipitation legacies than by current growing season rainfall. Greater precipitation in the previous growing season enhanced grass cover and reduced forb and legume cover. Kangaroo rat trophic and engineering interactions had counteracting effects on these legacies. While burrowing increased grass cover and thereby amplified the effects of previous growing season rainfall on community composition, legacies were suppressed by the presence of kangaroo rat foraging, which decreased grass cover. Further analysis revealed that kangaroo rat foraging and burrowing had conflicting effects on residual plant biomass prior to the growing season, suggesting that precipitation legacies were influenced by altered litter dynamics. 4. Synthesis. Our study demonstrates that animals can impact the strength of precipitation legacies through direct and indirect interactions with the plant species that drive lag effects. The influence of multiple types of plant-animal interactions on precipitation legacies may be important to consider for ecosystem management and when generating predictions of community composition and productivity in future ecosystems.
Data from: Shrubs as ecosystem engineers across an environmental gradient: effects on species richness and exotic plant invasion
Ecosystem-engineering plants modify the physical environment and can increase species diversity and exotic species invasion. At the individual level, the effects of ecosystem engineers on other plants often become more positive in stressful environments. In this study, we investigated whether the community-level effects of ecosystem engineers also become stronger in more stressful environments. Using comparative and experimental approaches, we assessed the ability of a native shrub (Ericameria ericoides) to act as an ecosystem engineer across a stress gradient in a coastal dune in northern California, USA. We found increased coarse organic matter and lower wind speeds within shrub patches. Growth of a dominant invasive grass (Bromus diandrus) was facilitated both by aboveground shrub biomass and by growing in soil taken from shrub patches. Experimental removal of shrubs negatively affected species most associated with shrubs and positively affected species most often found outside of shrubs. Counter to the stress-gradient hypothesis, the effects of shrubs on the physical environment and individual plant growth did not increase across the established stress gradient at this site. At the community level, shrub patches increased beta diversity, and contained greater rarified richness and exotic plant cover than shrub-free patches. Shrub effects on rarified richness increased with environmental stress, but effects on exotic cover and beta diversity did not. Our study provides evidence for the community-level effects of shrubs as ecosystem engineers in this system, but shows that these effects do not necessarily become stronger in more stressful environments.
Data from: Mammalian engineers drive soil microbial communities and ecosystem functions across a disturbance gradient
The effects of mammalian ecosystem engineers on soil microbial communities and ecosystem functions in terrestrial ecosystems are poorly known. Disturbance from livestock has been widely reported to reduce soil function, but disturbance by animals that forage in the soil may partially offset these negative effects of livestock, directly and/or indirectly by shifting the composition and diversity of soil microbial communities. Understanding the role of disturbance from livestock and ecosystem engineers in driving soil microbes and functions is essential for formulating sustainable ecosystem management and conservation policies. We compared soil bacterial community composition and enzyme concentrations within four microsites: foraging pits of two vertebrates, the indigenous short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) and the exotic European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), and surface and subsurface soils along a gradient in grazing-induced disturbance in an arid woodland. Microbial community composition varied little across the disturbance gradient, but there were substantial differences among the four microsites. Echidna pits supported a lower relative abundance of Acidobacteria and Cyanobacteria, but a higher relative abundance of Proteobacteria than rabbit pits and surface microsites. Moreover, these microsite differences varied with disturbance. Rabbit pits had a similar profile to the subsoil or the surface soils under moderate and high, but not low disturbance. Overall, echidna foraging pits had the greatest positive effect on function, assessed as mean enzyme concentrations, but rabbits had the least. The positive effects of echidna foraging on function were indirectly driven via microbial community composition. In particular, increasing activity was positively associated with increasing relative abundance of Proteobacteria, but decreasing Acidobacteria. Our study suggests that soil disturbance by animals may offset, to some degree, the oft-reported negative effects of grazing-induced disturbance on soil function. Further, our results suggest that most of this effect will be derived from echidnas, with little positive effects due to rabbits. Activities that enhance the habitat for echidnas or reduce rabbit populations are likely to have a positive effect on soil function in these systems.
Data from: Are Cecropia trees ecosystem engineers? The effect of decomposing Cecropia leaves on arthropod communities
Ecosystem engineers structure species richness and the composition of biological communities. Although several studies have uncovered the importance of engineering environments, few studies have evaluated the effect of pioneering plants as ecosystem engineers, especially in tropical environments. When dead, Cecropia leaves become architecturally complex, acquiring a tridimensional shape due to desiccation, and may facilitate other organisms. Here we evaluate the role of these dead leaves in structuring species richness, abundance, biomass, and composition of macroinvertebrate communities on leaf litter in six protected areas of Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest. Predators were larger, more abundant, and presented higher standing stock in the presence of dead Cecropia leaves compared to soil debris (i.e., common leaf litter); however, detritivores had the opposite patterns. This resulted in shifts in body size structure of the assemblage, thus causing inversion of biomass pyramids to top-heavy in advanced stages of Cecropia leaves desiccation. Dead Cecropia leaves did not influence species richness and abundance of species, but they influenced the biomass of detritivores and predators in the communities. Our results demonstrated that pioneer trees can act as ecosystem engineers, by facilitating communities of invertebrate predators. In addition, our results suggest that the presence of Cecropia leaves can mediate trophic interactions and shape food web structure on the forest floor.
Density-dependent effects of parasitism on the activity of a benthic engineer species: potential impact on ecosystem functioning
<p>While parasitism is a common lifestyle on Earth, its importance for the functioning of marine ecosystems has been overlooked for a long time. In particular, parasites have significant potential to influence central ecological processes through their impacts on hosts that serve as ecosystem engineers. Using an ex-situ experimental approach, we explored the effects of trematode parasites on the engineering bioturbation activity of a common and abundant bivalve along European Atlantic soft-bottom coastlines, the peppery furrow shell <em>Scrobicularia</em> <em>plana</em>, as well as knock-on effects for nutrient exchanges at the sediment-water interface. Trematodes negatively impacted the host's ability to transport sediment particles and solutes in a density-dependent way with parasite burden explaining 22–31% of the inter-individual variability. This could be explained by parasitism impairing the bivalve physiological state and ability to burrow as we observed a decrease in the condition index and the burrowing depth of the bivalves with an increase in the number of parasites they host. In contrast, the influence of <em>S. plana</em> on benthic biogeochemical fluxes did not vary significantly according to parasitic burden over a short time scale. Here, we focused on the effects of trematode parasites on the sole behaviour of <em>S. plana</em> and thus excluded other macrofaunal organisms. We should next test whether trematodes modulate the structure and functioning of benthic communities dominated by <em>S. plana</em> to better understand and quantify the engineering role of parasites in soft-bottom coastal environments.</p>
A rodent herbivore reduces its predation risk through ecosystem engineering
<p>Predator-prey interactions are ubiquitous and powerful forces structuring ecological communities [1, 2, 3]. Habitat complexity has been shown to be particularly important in regulating the strength of predator-prey interactions [4, 5]. It is now relatively well known that changes in habitat structure can alter the patterns and efficacy of predatory and anti-predatory behaviors of interacting predators and prey [3, 4, 6]. Nevertheless, little is known about the consequences of engineering activity by species on their own predation risk, despite of the fact that many ecosystem engineers themselves face pervasive predation risk in natural ecosystems. With a combination of field surveys and manipulative experiments, we evaluated how habitat modification by Brandt's voles influences predation risk from avian predators (shrikes) in a steppe grassland, Inner Mongolian, China. We found that voles actively modify habitat structure by cutting down a large, unpalatable grass species in the presence of shrikes, an effect that disappeared when these avian predators were excluded experimentally. Such damage activities of rodents dramatically decreased the volume of unpalatable grasses, which in turn, reduced visitations by shrikes and thus the mortality rate of voles. Our study documented that herbivorous prey, when acting as ecosystem engineers, can indirectly reduce their own predation risk by modifying habitat structure. Given the pervasive of predation risk faced by consumers, and the ability of many consumers to alter the habitat structure in which they live, the interplay between predation risk and ecosystem engineering may be an important mechanism in driving the structure and dynamics of natural communities.</p>
Artificially-perforated holes in stems of small hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium L.) mimic ecosystem engineering by the parsnip webworm (Depressaria radiella Goeze)
<p>We conducted a field experiment to determine if artificial holes perforated into stem compartments of <em>Heracleum sphondylium</em> mimic the natural situation with <em>Depressaria radiella</em>. At five locations near the city of Leiden, the Netherlands, <em>H. sphondylium </em>plants were exposed to different treatments: a single hole perforated in the first, second or third stem compartment, or in all three compartments. After three weeks, arthropod numbers were counted inside and around hogweed stems. </p>
Belowground ecosystem engineers enhance biodiversity and function in a polluted ecosystem
<p>Many important ecosystem functions are underpinned by belowground biodiversity and processes. Marine sediments, one of the most abundant habitats on earth, are essential to the mineralisation of organic matter. However, they are increasingly polluted by urban activities leading to the loss of biodiversity and the functions they provide. While traditional sediment remediation strategies are focussed on microbial and engineering solutions, we propose that the reintroduction of belowground ecosystem engineers (bioturbators) is important to rehabilitate polluted sediments and drive recovery of their functions in urban coastal ecosystems. We tested this notion by introducing bioturbators to nutrient polluted sediments to assess their survival, as well as their capacity to drive biodiversity and oxygenation and their potential to remediate nutrient pollution. Polychaete worms Diopatra aciculata and clams Katelysia sp. were added to mesocosms (ex-situ), and the worms also added to experimental plots in-situ. Potential for remediation was assessed with measures of nutrient content. All animals survived when introduced to polluted sediments and showed no evidence of sub-lethal effects. Worms oxygenated sediments and reduced organic matter content by up to 50% in-situ. The worms also drove shifts in the receiving communities at all locations and increased the number of taxa at one location. On the other hand, the effects of clams were variable, showing opposite effects in organic matter content at different sites and levels of pollution. Synthesis and applications. Global seafloor habitats are becoming increasingly degraded and novel strategies that combine biodiversity restoration with remediation are urgently needed to return function. Tube-building bioturbators can stimulate nutrient processing in sediments proving multiple functional outcomes, but these effects are dependent on the receiving environment. In areas with medium levels of pollution, they can kick-start recovery in a feedback loop whereby bioturbation increases oxygenation and nutrient remediation, shifting sediment biodiversity and contributing to further recovery. This can drive long-term changes in sediment communities, particularly in urban areas where unvegetated sediments are conspicuous.</p>
Data set to Remote sensing-supported mapping of the activity of a subterranean landscape engineer across an afro-alpine ecosystem
<p>This data set is part of the article Wraase et al. (2022): Remote sensing -supported mapping of the activity of a subterranean landscape engineer across an afro-alpine ecosystem. Remote sensing in Ecology and Conservation. (https://doi.org/10.1002/RSE2.303)</p> <p>The repository contains a Readme file ("readme.txt") and two additional folders labeled: “input data” and “script”.<br> <br> The first folder contains 13 data files further divided into three subfolders “cca_analysis”, “main_modelling_prc_texture_idx” and “vectors”. Data formats are .csv format for all tables, .rds files for model objects from R and .shp format for all vector data.</p> <p>The second folder contains all 31 R-scripts necessary to do the analysis, as described in the article. Additionally, the folder is further categorized into five subfolders equivalent to the main analysis operations: “cca_analysis”, “landsat_temp_modelling”, “main_modelling_prc”, “maxent” and “texture_idx”.</p>
Data from: Ecosystem engineers shape ecological network structure and stability: a framework and literature review
<p>Ecosystem engineering is a ubiquitous process where species influence the physical environment and thereby structure ecological communities. However, there has been little effort to synthesise or predict how ecosystem engineering may impact the structure and stability of interaction networks. To assess the current scientific understanding of ecosystem engineering impacts via habitat forming, habitat modification, and bioturbation on interaction networks/food webs, we reviewed the literature covering marine, freshwater, and terrestrial food webs, plant-pollinator networks, and theory. We provide a conceptual framework and identify three major pathways of engineering impact on networks through changes in resource availability and energy flow, habitat heterogeneity, and environmental filtering. These three processes often work in concert and most studies report that engineering increases species richness. This is particularly marked for engineers that increase habitat heterogeneity and thereby the number of available niches. The response of network structure to ecosystem engineering varies, however some patterns emerge from this review. Engineered habitat heterogeneity leads to a higher number of links between species in the networks and increases link density. Connectance can be negatively or positively affected by ecosystem engineer impact, depending on the engineering pathway and the engineer impact of species richness. We discuss how ecosystem engineers can stabilize or destabilize communities through the changes in niche space, diversity, network structure, and the dependency on the engineering impact. Theory and empirical evidence need to inform each other to better integrate ecosystem engineering and ecological networks. A mechanistic understanding how ecosystem engineering traits shape interactions networks and their stability will be important to predict species extinctions and can provide crucial information for conservation and ecosystem restoration.</p>
Data from: A global database and 'state of the field' review of research into ecosystem engineering by land animals.
1. Ecosystem engineers have been widely studied for terrestrial systems, but global trends in research encompassing the range of taxa and functions have not previously been synthesised. 2. We synthesised contemporary understanding of engineer fauna in terrestrial habitats and assessed the methods used to document patterns and processes, asking: 1.Which species act as ecosystem engineers and with whom do they interact? 2. What are the impacts of ecosystem engineers in terrestrial habitats and how are they distributed? 3. What are the primary methods used to examine engineer effects and how have these developed over time? We considered the strengths, weaknesses and gaps in knowledge related to each of these questions, and suggested a conceptual framework to delineate 'significant impacts' of engineering interactions for all terrestrial animals. 3. We collected peer-reviewed publications examining ecosystem engineer impacts and created a database of engineer species to assess experimental approaches and any additional covariates that influenced the magnitude of engineer impacts. 4. One hundred and twenty-two species from twenty-eight orders were identified as ecosystem engineers, performing five ecological functions. Burrowing mammals were the most researched group (27%). Half of all studies occurred in dry/arid habitats. Mensurative studies comparing sites with and without engineers (80%) were more common than manipulative studies (20%). These provided a broad framework for predicting engineer impacts upon abundance and species diversity. However, the roles of confounding factors, processes driving these patterns, and the consequences of experimentally adjusting variables, such as engineer density, have been neglected. True spatial and temporal replication have also been limited, particularly for emerging studies of engineer reintroductions. 5. Climate change and habitat modification will challenge the roles that engineers play in regulating ecosystems, and these will become important avenues for future research. We recommend future studies include simulation of engineer effects and experimental manipulation of engineer densities to determine the potential for ecological cascades through trophic and engineering pathways due to functional decline. We also recommend improving knowledge of long-term engineering effects and replication of engineer reintroductions across landscapes to better understand how large-scale ecological gradients alter the magnitude of engineering impacts.
The ghosts of ecosystem engineers: Legacy effects of biogenic modifications
<p>1. Ecosystem engineers strongly influence the communities in which they live by modifying habitats and altering resource availability. These biogenic changes can persist beyond the presence of the engineer, and such modifications are known as ecosystem engineering legacy effects.</p> <p>2. Although many authors recognize ecosystem engineering legacies, and some case studies quantify the effects of legacies, few general frameworks describe their causes and consequences across species or ecosystem types.</p> <p>3. Here, we synthesize evidence for ecosystem engineering legacies and describe how consideration of key traits of engineers improves understanding of which engineers are likely to leave persistent biogenic modifications.</p> <p>4. Our review demonstrates that engineering legacies are ubiquitous, with substantial effects on individuals, communities, and ecosystem processes. Attributes that may promote the persistence of influential legacies relate to an engineer's traits, including its body size, lifespan, and living strategy (individual, conspecific group, or collection of multiple co-occurring species).</p> <p>5. Additional lines of inquiry, such as how the recipients respond (e.g., density or richness) or the mechanism of engineering (e.g., burrowing or structure building), should be included in future ecosystem engineering legacy research.</p> <p>6. Understanding patterns of these persistent effects of ecosystem engineers and evaluating the consequences of losing them is an important area of research needed for understanding long-term ecological responses to global change and biodiversity loss.</p>
Figure 9 in Natural history and ecology of the slender crayfish (Faxonius compressus): an ecosystem engineer in the Western Highland Rim, USA
Figure 9. The mean carapace length of Faxonius compressus collected across 33 sites, based on the macrohabitat type and the water depth at which they were collected. Boxes indicate the treatments̍ interquartile range, and points represent our raw data.
Figure 6 in Natural history and ecology of the slender crayfish (Faxonius compressus): an ecosystem engineer in the Western Highland Rim, USA
Figure 6. The density of burrows counted within a 0.25 m2 quadrat based on three separate macrohabitat types across 33 different sites. Boxes indicate the treatments̍ interquartile range, and points represent our raw data.
Figure 5 in Natural history and ecology of the slender crayfish (Faxonius compressus): an ecosystem engineer in the Western Highland Rim, USA
Figure 5. Fish species that we documented utilising crayfish burrows. Note that not all photographs depict the fish utilising crayfish burrows. (A) Fantail darter, Etheostoma flabellare. (B) Rainbow darter, Etheostoma caeruleum. (C) Saffron darter, Etheostoma flavum. (D) Redline darter, Etheostoma rifilineatum. (E) Gaurdian darter, Etheostoma oophylax. (F) Banded sculpin, Cottus carolinae.
Figure 1 in Natural history and ecology of the slender crayfish (Faxonius compressus): an ecosystem engineer in the Western Highland Rim, USA
Figure 1. (A) Adult male slender crayfish, Faxonius compressus. (B) Morphology of F. compressus claw.
Figure 4 in Natural history and ecology of the slender crayfish (Faxonius compressus): an ecosystem engineer in the Western Highland Rim, USA
Figure 4. Co-occurring crayfish species encountered alongside Faxonius compressus within our study area. (A) The hillbilly hairy crayfish, Cambarus polypilosus. (B) Saddleback crayfish, Faxonius durrelli. (C) A juvenile F. durrelli using a hyporheic burrow. (D) An adult big claw crayfish, Faxonius placidus, using a hyporheic burrow.
Figure 2 in Natural history and ecology of the slender crayfish (Faxonius compressus): an ecosystem engineer in the Western Highland Rim, USA
Figure 2. (A) Typical view of Faxonius compressus habitat with an abundance of chert gravel and cobble. Large boulders are rare or entirely absent. (B) Benthic view of typical F. compressus habitat, with ample interstitial space allowing for the excavation of interstitial burrows. (C,D) Examples of F. compressus hyporheic burrows within the chert substrate on the stream benthos.
Figure 8 in Natural history and ecology of the slender crayfish (Faxonius compressus): an ecosystem engineer in the Western Highland Rim, USA
Figure 8. The number of Faxonius compressus collected across 33 sites based on the macrohabitat type and the water depth at which they were collected. Boxes indicate the treatments̍ interquartile range, and points represent our raw data.
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