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

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

12 Downloads (Pure)

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

Funding

Acknowledgements This research was funded by the ERA-Net BiodivERsA project smallFOREST, with the national funders ANR (France), MINECO (Spain), FORMAS (Sweden), ETAG (Estonia), DFG (Germany), BELSPO (Belgium) and DFG (Germany) part of the 2011 BiodivERsA call for research proposals. P.D.S. and W.P. each hold a doctoral fellowship of the Research Foundation-Flanders (FWO). The research of K.V. is supported by the ERC Consolidator Grant 614839—PASTFORWARD. D.B. and L.B. are supported by the FWO research network EVENET. Many thanks to Gert Arijs, Kent Hansson, Marco Langer, Vincent Le Roux, Jessica Lindgren, Matthias Reiche, Sabine Sigfridsson and Rieneke Vanhulle for help during field sampling.

Funders	Funder number
European Resuscitation Council	614839
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Agence Nationale de la Recherche
Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas
Eesti Teadusagentuur
Belgian Federal Science Policy Office
Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad

Keywords

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

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1007/s10980-017-0607-7

Linking macrodetritivore distribution to desiccation resistance in small forest fragments embedded in agricultural landscapes in EuropeFinal published version, 1.77 MBLicence: Article 25fa Dutch Copyright Act

Persistent URL (handle)

Persistent link

Cite this

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

@article{4af2f548edf645c8b1da02373b230072,

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",

volume = "33",

pages = "407--421",

journal = "Landscape Ecology",

issn = "0921-2973",

publisher = "Springer Netherlands",

number = "3",

}

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

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

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85040090903&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85040090903&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s10980-017-0607-7

DO - 10.1007/s10980-017-0607-7

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85040090903

SN - 0921-2973

VL - 33

SP - 407

EP - 421

JO - Landscape Ecology

JF - Landscape Ecology

IS - 3

ER -

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

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Persistent URL (handle)

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this