Tree diversity drives diversity of arthropod herbivores, but successional stage mediates detritivores.

ABSTRACT: The high tree diversity of subtropical forests is linked to the biodiversity of other trophic levels. Disentangling the effects of tree species richness and composition, forest age, and stand structure on higher trophic levels in a forest landscape is important for understanding the factors that promote biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Using a plot network spanning gradients of tree diversity and secondary succession in subtropical forest, we tested the effects of tree community characteristics (species richness and composition) and forest succession (stand age) on arthropod community characteristics (morphotype diversity, abundance and composition) of four arthropod functional groups. We posit that these gradients differentially affect the arthropod functional groups, which mediate

SUBMITTER: O'Brien MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5677472 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature