Wet and dry extremes reduce arthropod biomass independently of leaf phenology in the wet tropics.

ABSTRACT: Warming temperatures are increasing rainfall extremes, yet arthropod responses to climatic fluctuations remain poorly understood. Here, we used spatiotemporal variation in tropical montane climate as a natural experiment to compare the importance of biotic versus abiotic drivers in regulating arthropod biomass. We combined intensive field data on arthropods, leaf phenology and in situ weather across a 1700-3100 m elevation and rainfall gradient, along with desiccation-resistance experiments and multi-decadal modelling. We found limited support for biotic drivers with weak increases in some herbivorous taxa on shrubs with new leaves, but no landscape-scale effects of leaf phenology, which tracked light and cloud cover. Instead, rainfall explained extensive interannual variability with maxim

SUBMITTER: Newell FL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10087840 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature