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Van Tran D, Nishikawa K. Variation in Ventral Coloration Pattern and Aposematism in Tropical Warty Newts. Zoolog Sci 2024; 41:275-280. [PMID: 38809866 DOI: 10.2108/zs230109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2023] [Accepted: 01/23/2024] [Indexed: 05/31/2024]
Abstract
Aposematic coloration plays a crucial role in animal defense, and it is shaped by a complex interplay of factors such as physiological limitations and sexual and natural selection. Warty newts within the genus Paramesotriton exhibit significant variation in ventral coloration. In this study, we quantified the percentage of red ventral area to investigate aposematic ventral coloration in Paramesotriton deloustali and P. guangxiensis across eight populations in northern Vietnam. To assess the interaction between predators and the aposematic signals, we conducted experiments employing three types of clay replicas of newts: dorsal, red ventral, and black ventral models. Our findings revealed a significant variation in the red ventral area among different populations. Additionally, a significant correlation was detected between the red ventral area of the newt and the annual temperature range. In clay model experiments, a significant difference in predator attack rates was observed between dorsal and ventral clay models. Interestingly, there was no significant difference in attack rates between red and black ventral types. Our study suggested that the variation in the red ventral area of warty newts is probably influenced by multiple factors, including genetic constraints, sex, ambient environment, and diet. Furthermore, our results supported the effectiveness of displaying aposematic coloration as an antipredator defense mechanism in warty newts. However, variations in body size and the pressure of mammal predation might not play a significant role in determining aposematic coloration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dung Van Tran
- Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Yoshida Nihonmatsu-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan,
- Vietnam National University of Forestry, Xuan Mai, Chuong My, Ha Noi, Vietnam
| | - Kanto Nishikawa
- Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Yoshida Nihonmatsu-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan
- Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Yoshida Hon-machi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan
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Zeng X, Gao H, Wang R, Majcher BM, Woon JS, Wenda C, Eggleton P, Griffiths HM, Ashton LA. Global contribution of invertebrates to forest litter decomposition. Ecol Lett 2024; 27:e14423. [PMID: 38584578 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2023] [Revised: 02/15/2024] [Accepted: 03/12/2024] [Indexed: 04/09/2024]
Abstract
Forest litter decomposition is an essential component of global carbon and nutrient turnover. Invertebrates play important roles in litter decomposition, but the regional pattern of their effects is poorly understood. We examined 476 case studies across 93 sites and performed a meta-analysis to estimate regional effects of invertebrates on forest litter decomposition. We then assessed how invertebrate diversity, climate and soil pH drive regional variations in invertebrate-mediated decomposition. We found that (1) invertebrate contributions to litter decomposition are 1.4 times higher in tropical and subtropical forests than in forests elsewhere, with an overall contribution of 31% to global forest litter decomposition; and (2) termite diversity, together with warm, humid and acidic environments in the tropics and subtropics are positively associated with forest litter decomposition by invertebrates. Our results demonstrate the significant difference in invertebrate effects on mediating forest litter decomposition among regions. We demonstrate, also, the significance of termites in driving litter mass loss in the tropics and subtropics. These results are particularly pertinent in the tropics and subtropics where climate change and human disturbance threaten invertebrate biodiversity and the ecosystem services it provides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoyi Zeng
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Huilin Gao
- Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Runxi Wang
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Bartosz M Majcher
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Joel S Woon
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
- Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | - Cheng Wenda
- School of Ecology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangdong, China
| | - Paul Eggleton
- Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | | | - Louise A Ashton
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
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Contos P, Murphy NP, Kayll ZJ, Morgan T, Vido JJ, Decker O, Gibb H. Rewilding soil and litter invertebrates and fungi increases decomposition rates and alters detritivore communities. Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e11128. [PMID: 38469050 PMCID: PMC10925487 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.11128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2023] [Revised: 10/16/2023] [Accepted: 02/28/2024] [Indexed: 03/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Habitat degradation and associated reductions in ecosystem functions can be reversed by reintroducing or 'rewilding' keystone species. Rewilding projects have historically targeted restoration of processes such as grazing regimes or top-down predation effects. Few projects focus on restoring decomposition efficiency, despite the pivotal role decomposition plays in global carbon sequestration and nutrient cycling. Here, we tested whether rewilding entire communities of detritivorous invertebrates and fungi can improve litter decomposition efficiency and restore detritivore communities during ecological restoration. Rewilding was conducted by transplanting leaf litter and soil, including associated invertebrate and fungal communities from species-rich remnant sites into species-poor, and geographically isolated, revegetated farmland sites in a temperate woodland region of southeastern Australia. We compared communities in sites under the following treatments: remnant (conservation area and source of litter transplant), rewilded revegetation (revegetated farmland site with litter transplant) and control revegetation (revegetated site, no transplant). In one 'before' and three 'after' sampling periods, we measured litter decomposition and the abundance and diversity of detritivorous invertebrates and fungi. We quantified the effect of detritivores on the rate of litter decomposition using piecewise Structural Equation Modelling. Decomposition was significantly faster in rewilding sites than in both control and remnant areas and was largely driven by a greater abundance of invertebrate detritivores. Similarly, the abundance of invertebrate detritivores in rewilding revegetation sites exceeded the level of remnant communities, whereas there was little difference between control and remnant sites. In contrast, rewilding did not increase saprotrophic fungi relative abundance/diversity and there was no strong relationship between decomposition and fungal diversity. Our findings suggest the relatively simple act of transplanting leaf litter and soil can increase functional efficiency during restoration and alter community composition. Our methods may prove important across a range of contexts where other restoration methods have failed to restore ecosystem processes to pre-degradation levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Contos
- Department of Environment and Genetics, Centre for Future Landscapes, School of Agriculture, Biomedicine, and EnvironmentLa Trobe UniversityMelbourneVictoriaAustralia
| | - Nicholas P. Murphy
- Department of Environment and Genetics, Centre for Future Landscapes, School of Agriculture, Biomedicine, and EnvironmentLa Trobe UniversityMelbourneVictoriaAustralia
| | - Zachary J. Kayll
- Department of Environment and Genetics, Centre for Future Landscapes, School of Agriculture, Biomedicine, and EnvironmentLa Trobe UniversityMelbourneVictoriaAustralia
| | - Tamara Morgan
- Department of Environment and Genetics, Centre for Future Landscapes, School of Agriculture, Biomedicine, and EnvironmentLa Trobe UniversityMelbourneVictoriaAustralia
| | - Joshua J. Vido
- Department of Environment and Genetics, Centre for Future Landscapes, School of Agriculture, Biomedicine, and EnvironmentLa Trobe UniversityMelbourneVictoriaAustralia
- Department of Microbiology, Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology, School of Agriculture, Biomedicine, and EnvironmentLa Trobe UniversityMelbourneVictoriaAustralia
| | - Orsi Decker
- Department of Environment and Genetics, Centre for Future Landscapes, School of Agriculture, Biomedicine, and EnvironmentLa Trobe UniversityMelbourneVictoriaAustralia
- Bavarian Forest National ParkNature Conservation and ResearchGrafenauGermany
| | - Heloise Gibb
- Department of Environment and Genetics, Centre for Future Landscapes, School of Agriculture, Biomedicine, and EnvironmentLa Trobe UniversityMelbourneVictoriaAustralia
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Liu J, You C, Xu Z, Liu Y, Zhang L, Li H, Wang L, Liu S, He S, Luo Z, Tan B. Soil arthropods promote litter enzyme activity by regulating microbial carbon limitation and ecoenzymatic stoichiometry in a subalpine forest. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 876:162789. [PMID: 36914138 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162789] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2022] [Revised: 03/06/2023] [Accepted: 03/06/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Soil arthropods are crucial decomposers of litter at both global and local scales, yet their functional roles in mediating microbial activity during litter decomposition remain poorly understood. Here, we conducted a two-year field experiment using litterbags to assess the effects of soil arthropods on the extracellular enzyme activities (EEAs) in two litter substrates (Abies faxoniana and Betula albosinensis) in a subalpine forest. A biocide (naphthalene) was used to permit (nonnaphthalene) or exclude (naphthalene application) the presence of soil arthropods in litterbags during decomposition. Our results showed that biocide application was effective in reducing the abundance of soil arthropods in litterbags, with the density and species richness of soil arthropods decreasing by 64.18-75.45 % and 39.19-63.30 %, respectively. Litter with soil arthropods had a greater activity of C-degrading (β-glucosidase, cellobiohydrolase, polyphenol oxidase, peroxidase), N-degrading (N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase, leucine arylamidase) and P-degrading (phosphatase) enzymes than litter from which soil arthropods were excluded. The contributions of soil arthropods to C-, N- and P-degrading EEAs in the fir litter were 38.09 %, 15.62 % and 61.69 %, and those for the birch litter were 27.97 %, 29.18 % and 30.40 %, respectively. Furthermore, the stoichiometric analyses of enzyme activity indicated that there was potential C and P colimitation in both the soil arthropod inclusion and exclusion litterbags, and the presence of soil arthropods decreased C limitation in the two litter species. Our structural equation models suggested that soil arthropods indirectly promoted C-, N- and P-degrading EEAs by regulating the litter C content and litter stoichiometry (e.g., N/P, LN/N and C/P) during litter decomposition. These results demonstrate that soil arthropods play an important functional role in modulating EEAs during litter decomposition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jingru Liu
- Institute of Ecology & Forestry, Forestry Ecological Engineering in Upper Reaches of Yangtze River Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China; Key Laboratory of Forest Resources Conservation and Ecological Security in Upper Reaches of Yangtze River, Chengdu 611130, China
| | - Chengming You
- Institute of Ecology & Forestry, Forestry Ecological Engineering in Upper Reaches of Yangtze River Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China; Key Laboratory of Forest Resources Conservation and Ecological Security in Upper Reaches of Yangtze River, Chengdu 611130, China
| | - Zhenfeng Xu
- Institute of Ecology & Forestry, Forestry Ecological Engineering in Upper Reaches of Yangtze River Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China; Key Laboratory of Forest Resources Conservation and Ecological Security in Upper Reaches of Yangtze River, Chengdu 611130, China
| | - Yang Liu
- Institute of Ecology & Forestry, Forestry Ecological Engineering in Upper Reaches of Yangtze River Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China; Key Laboratory of Forest Resources Conservation and Ecological Security in Upper Reaches of Yangtze River, Chengdu 611130, China
| | - Li Zhang
- Institute of Ecology & Forestry, Forestry Ecological Engineering in Upper Reaches of Yangtze River Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China; Key Laboratory of Forest Resources Conservation and Ecological Security in Upper Reaches of Yangtze River, Chengdu 611130, China
| | - Han Li
- Institute of Ecology & Forestry, Forestry Ecological Engineering in Upper Reaches of Yangtze River Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China; Key Laboratory of Forest Resources Conservation and Ecological Security in Upper Reaches of Yangtze River, Chengdu 611130, China
| | - Lixia Wang
- Institute of Ecology & Forestry, Forestry Ecological Engineering in Upper Reaches of Yangtze River Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China; Key Laboratory of Forest Resources Conservation and Ecological Security in Upper Reaches of Yangtze River, Chengdu 611130, China
| | - Sining Liu
- Institute of Ecology & Forestry, Forestry Ecological Engineering in Upper Reaches of Yangtze River Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China; Key Laboratory of Forest Resources Conservation and Ecological Security in Upper Reaches of Yangtze River, Chengdu 611130, China
| | - Shuqin He
- Institute of Ecology & Forestry, Forestry Ecological Engineering in Upper Reaches of Yangtze River Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China; Key Laboratory of Forest Resources Conservation and Ecological Security in Upper Reaches of Yangtze River, Chengdu 611130, China
| | - Ziteng Luo
- Institute of Ecology & Forestry, Forestry Ecological Engineering in Upper Reaches of Yangtze River Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China; Key Laboratory of Forest Resources Conservation and Ecological Security in Upper Reaches of Yangtze River, Chengdu 611130, China
| | - Bo Tan
- Institute of Ecology & Forestry, Forestry Ecological Engineering in Upper Reaches of Yangtze River Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China; Key Laboratory of Forest Resources Conservation and Ecological Security in Upper Reaches of Yangtze River, Chengdu 611130, China.
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