Plant species composition and local habitat conditions as primary determinants of terrestrial arthropod assemblages.

ABSTRACT: Arthropods respond to vegetation in multiple ways since plants provide habitat and food resources and indicate local abiotic conditions. However, the relative importance of these factors for arthropod assemblages is less well understood. We aimed to disentangle the effects of plant species composition and environmental drivers on arthropod taxonomic composition and to assess which aspects of vegetation contribute to the relationships between plant and arthropod assemblages. In a multi-scale field study in Southern Germany, we sampled vascular plants and terrestrial arthropods in typical habitats of temperate landscapes. We compared independent and shared effects of vegetation and abiotic predictors on arthropod composition distinguishing between four large orders (Lepidoptera, Coleoptera,

SUBMITTER: Tobisch C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10038969 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature