Linking macrodetritivore distribution to desiccation resistance in small forest fragments embedded in agricultural landscapes in Europe

Pallieter De Smedt; Lander Baeten; Willem Proesmans; Matty P. Berg; Jörg Brunet; Sara A.O. Cousins; Guillaume Decocq; Marc Deconchat; Martin Diekmann; Emilie Gallet-Moron; Brice Giffard; Jaan Liira; Ludmilla Martin; Astra Ooms; Alicia Valdés; Monika Wulf; Martin Hermy; Dries Bonte; Kris Verheyen

doi:10.1007/s10980-017-0607-7

Linking macrodetritivore distribution to desiccation resistance in small forest fragments embedded in agricultural landscapes in Europe

Pallieter De Smedt^*, Lander Baeten, Willem Proesmans, Matty P. Berg, Jörg Brunet, Sara A.O. Cousins, Guillaume Decocq, Marc Deconchat, Martin Diekmann, Emilie Gallet-Moron, Brice Giffard, Jaan Liira, Ludmilla Martin, Astra Ooms, Alicia Valdés, Monika Wulf, Martin Hermy, Dries Bonte, Kris Verheyen

^*Corresponding author for this work

Animal Ecology

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Purpose: Most of the agricultural landscape in Europe, and elsewhere, consists of mosaics with scattered fragments of semi-natural habitat like small forest fragments. Mutual interactions between forest fragments and agricultural areas influence ecosystem processes such as nutrient cycling, a process strongly mediated by the macrodetritivore community, which is however, poorly studied. We investigated macrodetritivore distribution patterns at local and landscape-level and used a key functional trait (desiccation resistance) to gain mechanistic insights of the putative drivers. Methods: Macrodetritivores were sampled in forest edges-centres of 224 European forest fragments across 14 landscapes opposing in land use intensity. We used a multilevel analysis of variance to assess the relative contribution of different spatial scales in explaining activity-density and Shannon-diversity of woodlice and millipedes, together with a model-based analysis of the multivariate activity-density data testing the effect on species composition. Secondly, we tested if desiccation resistance of macrodetritivores varied across communities at different spatial scales using linear mixed effect models. Results: Forest edge-centre and landscape use intensity determined activity-density and community composition of macrodetritivores in forest fragments, while fragment characteristics like size and continuity were relatively unimportant. Forest edges and higher intensity landscapes supported higher activity-density of macrodetritivores and determined species composition. Forest edges sustained woodlouse communities dominated by more drought tolerant species. Conclusions: Landscape use intensity and forest edges are main drivers in macrodetritivore distribution in forest fragments with desiccation resistance a good predictor of macrodetritivore distribution. Key functional traits can help us to predict changes in community structure in changing landscapes.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	407-421
Number of pages	15
Journal	Landscape Ecology
Volume	33
Issue number	3
Early online date	6 Jan 2018
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-017-0607-7
Publication status	Published - Mar 2018

Keywords

Forest edges
Landscape use intensity
Litter dwelling soil fauna
Millipedes
Nutrient cycling
Woodlice

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De Smedt, P., Baeten, L., Proesmans, W., Berg, M. P., Brunet, J., Cousins, S. A. O., Decocq, G., Deconchat, M., Diekmann, M., Gallet-Moron, E., Giffard, B., Liira, J., Martin, L., Ooms, A., Valdés, A., Wulf, M., Hermy, M., Bonte, D., & Verheyen, K. (2018). Linking macrodetritivore distribution to desiccation resistance in small forest fragments embedded in agricultural landscapes in Europe. Landscape Ecology, 33(3), 407-421. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-017-0607-7

De Smedt, Pallieter ; Baeten, Lander ; Proesmans, Willem ; Berg, Matty P. ; Brunet, Jörg ; Cousins, Sara A.O. ; Decocq, Guillaume ; Deconchat, Marc ; Diekmann, Martin ; Gallet-Moron, Emilie ; Giffard, Brice ; Liira, Jaan ; Martin, Ludmilla ; Ooms, Astra ; Valdés, Alicia ; Wulf, Monika ; Hermy, Martin ; Bonte, Dries ; Verheyen, Kris. / Linking macrodetritivore distribution to desiccation resistance in small forest fragments embedded in agricultural landscapes in Europe. In: Landscape Ecology. 2018 ; Vol. 33, No. 3. pp. 407-421.

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title = "Linking macrodetritivore distribution to desiccation resistance in small forest fragments embedded in agricultural landscapes in Europe",

abstract = "Purpose: Most of the agricultural landscape in Europe, and elsewhere, consists of mosaics with scattered fragments of semi-natural habitat like small forest fragments. Mutual interactions between forest fragments and agricultural areas influence ecosystem processes such as nutrient cycling, a process strongly mediated by the macrodetritivore community, which is however, poorly studied. We investigated macrodetritivore distribution patterns at local and landscape-level and used a key functional trait (desiccation resistance) to gain mechanistic insights of the putative drivers. Methods: Macrodetritivores were sampled in forest edges-centres of 224 European forest fragments across 14 landscapes opposing in land use intensity. We used a multilevel analysis of variance to assess the relative contribution of different spatial scales in explaining activity-density and Shannon-diversity of woodlice and millipedes, together with a model-based analysis of the multivariate activity-density data testing the effect on species composition. Secondly, we tested if desiccation resistance of macrodetritivores varied across communities at different spatial scales using linear mixed effect models. Results: Forest edge-centre and landscape use intensity determined activity-density and community composition of macrodetritivores in forest fragments, while fragment characteristics like size and continuity were relatively unimportant. Forest edges and higher intensity landscapes supported higher activity-density of macrodetritivores and determined species composition. Forest edges sustained woodlouse communities dominated by more drought tolerant species. Conclusions: Landscape use intensity and forest edges are main drivers in macrodetritivore distribution in forest fragments with desiccation resistance a good predictor of macrodetritivore distribution. Key functional traits can help us to predict changes in community structure in changing landscapes.",

keywords = "Forest edges, Landscape use intensity, Litter dwelling soil fauna, Millipedes, Nutrient cycling, Woodlice",

author = "{De Smedt}, Pallieter and Lander Baeten and Willem Proesmans and Berg, {Matty P.} and J{\"o}rg Brunet and Cousins, {Sara A.O.} and Guillaume Decocq and Marc Deconchat and Martin Diekmann and Emilie Gallet-Moron and Brice Giffard and Jaan Liira and Ludmilla Martin and Astra Ooms and Alicia Vald{\'e}s and Monika Wulf and Martin Hermy and Dries Bonte and Kris Verheyen",

year = "2018",

month = mar,

doi = "10.1007/s10980-017-0607-7",

language = "English",

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pages = "407--421",

journal = "Landscape Ecology",

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De Smedt, P, Baeten, L, Proesmans, W, Berg, MP, Brunet, J, Cousins, SAO, Decocq, G, Deconchat, M, Diekmann, M, Gallet-Moron, E, Giffard, B, Liira, J, Martin, L, Ooms, A, Valdés, A, Wulf, M, Hermy, M, Bonte, D & Verheyen, K 2018, 'Linking macrodetritivore distribution to desiccation resistance in small forest fragments embedded in agricultural landscapes in Europe', Landscape Ecology, vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 407-421. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-017-0607-7

Linking macrodetritivore distribution to desiccation resistance in small forest fragments embedded in agricultural landscapes in Europe. / De Smedt, Pallieter; Baeten, Lander; Proesmans, Willem; Berg, Matty P.; Brunet, Jörg; Cousins, Sara A.O.; Decocq, Guillaume; Deconchat, Marc; Diekmann, Martin; Gallet-Moron, Emilie; Giffard, Brice; Liira, Jaan; Martin, Ludmilla; Ooms, Astra; Valdés, Alicia; Wulf, Monika; Hermy, Martin; Bonte, Dries; Verheyen, Kris.

In: Landscape Ecology, Vol. 33, No. 3, 03.2018, p. 407-421.

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Linking macrodetritivore distribution to desiccation resistance in small forest fragments embedded in agricultural landscapes in Europe

AU - De Smedt, Pallieter

AU - Baeten, Lander

AU - Proesmans, Willem

AU - Berg, Matty P.

AU - Brunet, Jörg

AU - Cousins, Sara A.O.

AU - Decocq, Guillaume

AU - Deconchat, Marc

AU - Diekmann, Martin

AU - Gallet-Moron, Emilie

AU - Giffard, Brice

AU - Liira, Jaan

AU - Martin, Ludmilla

AU - Ooms, Astra

AU - Valdés, Alicia

AU - Wulf, Monika

AU - Hermy, Martin

AU - Bonte, Dries

AU - Verheyen, Kris

PY - 2018/3

Y1 - 2018/3

N2 - Purpose: Most of the agricultural landscape in Europe, and elsewhere, consists of mosaics with scattered fragments of semi-natural habitat like small forest fragments. Mutual interactions between forest fragments and agricultural areas influence ecosystem processes such as nutrient cycling, a process strongly mediated by the macrodetritivore community, which is however, poorly studied. We investigated macrodetritivore distribution patterns at local and landscape-level and used a key functional trait (desiccation resistance) to gain mechanistic insights of the putative drivers. Methods: Macrodetritivores were sampled in forest edges-centres of 224 European forest fragments across 14 landscapes opposing in land use intensity. We used a multilevel analysis of variance to assess the relative contribution of different spatial scales in explaining activity-density and Shannon-diversity of woodlice and millipedes, together with a model-based analysis of the multivariate activity-density data testing the effect on species composition. Secondly, we tested if desiccation resistance of macrodetritivores varied across communities at different spatial scales using linear mixed effect models. Results: Forest edge-centre and landscape use intensity determined activity-density and community composition of macrodetritivores in forest fragments, while fragment characteristics like size and continuity were relatively unimportant. Forest edges and higher intensity landscapes supported higher activity-density of macrodetritivores and determined species composition. Forest edges sustained woodlouse communities dominated by more drought tolerant species. Conclusions: Landscape use intensity and forest edges are main drivers in macrodetritivore distribution in forest fragments with desiccation resistance a good predictor of macrodetritivore distribution. Key functional traits can help us to predict changes in community structure in changing landscapes.

AB - Purpose: Most of the agricultural landscape in Europe, and elsewhere, consists of mosaics with scattered fragments of semi-natural habitat like small forest fragments. Mutual interactions between forest fragments and agricultural areas influence ecosystem processes such as nutrient cycling, a process strongly mediated by the macrodetritivore community, which is however, poorly studied. We investigated macrodetritivore distribution patterns at local and landscape-level and used a key functional trait (desiccation resistance) to gain mechanistic insights of the putative drivers. Methods: Macrodetritivores were sampled in forest edges-centres of 224 European forest fragments across 14 landscapes opposing in land use intensity. We used a multilevel analysis of variance to assess the relative contribution of different spatial scales in explaining activity-density and Shannon-diversity of woodlice and millipedes, together with a model-based analysis of the multivariate activity-density data testing the effect on species composition. Secondly, we tested if desiccation resistance of macrodetritivores varied across communities at different spatial scales using linear mixed effect models. Results: Forest edge-centre and landscape use intensity determined activity-density and community composition of macrodetritivores in forest fragments, while fragment characteristics like size and continuity were relatively unimportant. Forest edges and higher intensity landscapes supported higher activity-density of macrodetritivores and determined species composition. Forest edges sustained woodlouse communities dominated by more drought tolerant species. Conclusions: Landscape use intensity and forest edges are main drivers in macrodetritivore distribution in forest fragments with desiccation resistance a good predictor of macrodetritivore distribution. Key functional traits can help us to predict changes in community structure in changing landscapes.

KW - Forest edges

KW - Landscape use intensity

KW - Litter dwelling soil fauna

KW - Millipedes

KW - Nutrient cycling

KW - Woodlice

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