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Thouvenot L, Ferlian O, Craven D, Johnson EA, Köhler J, Lochner A, Quosh J, Zeuner A, Eisenhauer N. Invasive earthworms can change understory plant community traits and reduce plant functional diversity. iScience 2024; 27:109036. [PMID: 38361612 PMCID: PMC10867650 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2023] [Revised: 11/14/2023] [Accepted: 01/23/2024] [Indexed: 02/17/2024] Open
Abstract
Among the most important impacts of biological invasions on biodiversity is biotic homogenization, which may further compromise key ecosystem processes. However, the extent to which they homogenize functional diversity and shift dominant ecological strategies of invaded communities remains uncertain. Here, we investigated changes in plant communities in a northern North American forest in response to invasive earthworms, by examining the taxonomic and functional diversity of the plant community and soil ecosystem functions. We found that although plant taxonomic diversity did not change in response to invasive earthworms, they modified the dominance structure of plant functional groups. Invasive earthworms promoted the dominance of fast-growing plants at the expense of slow-growing ones. Moreover, earthworms decreased plant functional diversity, which coincided with changes in abiotic and biotic soil properties. Our study reveals that invasive earthworms erode multiple biodiversity facets of invaded forests, with potential cascading effects on ecosystem functioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lise Thouvenot
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstraße 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Leipzig University, Institute of Biology, Puschstraße 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Olga Ferlian
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstraße 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Leipzig University, Institute of Biology, Puschstraße 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Dylan Craven
- GEMA Center for Genomics, Ecology & Environment, Universidad Mayor, Camino La Pirámide Huechuraba 5750, Santiago, Chile
- Data Observatory Foundation, Santiago, Chile
| | - Edward A. Johnson
- Department Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
| | - Johannes Köhler
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstraße 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Leipzig University, Institute of Biology, Puschstraße 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Alfred Lochner
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstraße 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Leipzig University, Institute of Biology, Puschstraße 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Julius Quosh
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstraße 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Leipzig University, Institute of Biology, Puschstraße 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Anja Zeuner
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstraße 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Leipzig University, Institute of Biology, Puschstraße 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Nico Eisenhauer
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstraße 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Leipzig University, Institute of Biology, Puschstraße 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
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Kaspari M, Weiser MD, Siler CD, Marshall KE, Smith SN, Stroh KM, de Beurs KM. Capacity and establishment rules govern the number of nonnative species in communities of ground-dwelling invertebrates. Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e10856. [PMID: 38487748 PMCID: PMC10937486 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10856] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2023] [Revised: 01/05/2024] [Accepted: 01/14/2024] [Indexed: 03/17/2024] Open
Abstract
Nonnative species are a key agent of global change. However, nonnative invertebrates remain understudied at the community scales where they are most likely to drive local extirpations. We use the North American NEON pitfall trapping network to document the number of nonnative species from 51 invertebrate communities, testing four classes of drivers. We sequenced samples using the eDNA from the sample's storage ethanol. We used AICc informed regression to evaluate how native species richness, productivity, habitat, temperature, and human population density and vehicular traffic account for continent-wide variation in the number of nonnative species in a local community. The percentage of nonnatives varied 3-fold among habitat types and over 10-fold (0%-14%) overall. We found evidence for two types of constraints on nonnative diversity. Consistent with Capacity rules (i.e., how the number of niches and individuals reflect the number of species an ecosystem can support) nonnatives increased with existing native species richness and ecosystem productivity. Consistent with Establishment Rules (i.e., how the dispersal rate of nonnative propagules and the number of open sites limits nonnative species richness) nonnatives increased with automobile traffic-a measure of human-generated propagule pressure-and were twice as common in pastures than native grasslands. After accounting for drivers associated with a community's ability to support native species (native species richness and productivity), nonnatives are more common in communities that are regularly seasonally disturbed (pastures and, potentially deciduous forests) and those experiencing more vehicular traffic. These baseline values across the US North America will allow NEON's monitoring mission to document how anthropogenic change-from disturbance to propagule transport, from temperature to trends in local extinction-further shape biotic homogenization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Kaspari
- Geographical Ecology Group, Department of BiologyUniversity of OklahomaNormanOklahomaUSA
- Conservation Ecology CenterSmithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology InstituteFront RoyalVirginiaUSA
| | - Michael D. Weiser
- Geographical Ecology Group, Department of BiologyUniversity of OklahomaNormanOklahomaUSA
| | - Cameron D. Siler
- Geographical Ecology Group, Department of BiologyUniversity of OklahomaNormanOklahomaUSA
- Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural HistoryUniversity of OklahomaNormanOklahomaUSA
| | - Katie E. Marshall
- Department of ZoologyUniversity of British ColumbiaVancouverBritish ColumbiaCanada
| | - Sierra N. Smith
- Geographical Ecology Group, Department of BiologyUniversity of OklahomaNormanOklahomaUSA
- Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural HistoryUniversity of OklahomaNormanOklahomaUSA
| | - Katherine M. Stroh
- Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural HistoryUniversity of OklahomaNormanOklahomaUSA
| | - Kirsten M. de Beurs
- Laboratory of Geo‐Information Science and Remote SensingWageningen University and ResearchWageningenThe Netherlands
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Jochum M, Thouvenot L, Ferlian O, Zeiss R, Klarner B, Pruschitzki U, Johnson EA, Eisenhauer N. Aboveground impacts of a belowground invader: how invasive earthworms alter aboveground arthropod communities in a northern North American forest. Biol Lett 2022; 18:20210636. [PMID: 35350876 PMCID: PMC8965420 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2021.0636] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Declining arthropod communities have recently gained a lot of attention, with climate and land-use change among the most frequently discussed drivers. Here, we focus on a seemingly underrepresented driver of arthropod community decline: biological invasions. For approximately 12 000 years, earthworms have been absent from wide parts of northern North America, but they have been re-introduced with dramatic consequences. Most studies investigating earthworm-invasion impacts focus on the belowground world, resulting in limited knowledge on aboveground-community changes. We present observational data on earthworm, plant and aboveground arthropod communities in 60 plots, distributed across areas with increasing invasion status (low, medium and high) in a Canadian forest. We analysed how earthworm-invasion status and biomass impact aboveground arthropod community abundance, biomass and species richness, and how earthworm impacts cascade across trophic levels. We sampled approximately 13 000 arthropods, dominated by Hemiptera, Diptera, Araneae, Thysanoptera and Hymenoptera. Total arthropod abundance, biomass and species richness declined significantly from areas of low to those with high invasion status, with reductions of 61, 27 and 18%, respectively. Structural equation models suggest that earthworms directly and indirectly impact arthropods across trophic levels. We show that earthworm invasion can alter aboveground multi-trophic arthropod communities and suggest that belowground invasions might be underappreciated drivers of aboveground arthropod decline.
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Affiliation(s)
- Malte Jochum
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstrasse 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.,Leipzig University, Institute of Biology, Puschstrasse 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Lise Thouvenot
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstrasse 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.,Leipzig University, Institute of Biology, Puschstrasse 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Olga Ferlian
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstrasse 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.,Leipzig University, Institute of Biology, Puschstrasse 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Romy Zeiss
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstrasse 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.,Leipzig University, Institute of Biology, Puschstrasse 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Bernhard Klarner
- J.F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, University of Goettingen, Untere Karspuele 2, Goettingen 37073, Germany
| | - Ulrich Pruschitzki
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstrasse 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.,Leipzig University, Institute of Biology, Puschstrasse 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Edward A Johnson
- Department Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 1N4
| | - Nico Eisenhauer
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstrasse 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.,Leipzig University, Institute of Biology, Puschstrasse 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
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