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Climate-induced forest dieback drives compositional changes in insect communities that are more pronounced for rare species.

ABSTRACT: Species richness, abundance and biomass of insects have recently undergone marked declines in Europe. We metabarcoded 211 Malaise-trap samples to investigate whether drought-induced forest dieback and subsequent salvage logging had an impact on ca. 3000 species of flying insects in silver fir Pyrenean forests. While forest dieback had no measurable impact on species richness, there were significant changes in community composition that were consistent with those observed during natural forest succession. Importantly, most observed changes were driven by rare species. Variation was explained primarily by canopy openness at the local scale, and the tree-related microhabitat diversity and deadwood amount at landscape scales. The levels of salvage logging in our study did not explain compositional changes. We conclude that forest dieback drives changes in species assemblages that mimic natural forest succession, and markedly increases the risk of catastrophic loss of rare species through homogenization of environmental conditions.

SUBMITTER: Sire L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8766456 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Climate-induced forest dieback drives compositional changes in insect communities that are more pronounced for rare species.

Sire Lucas L Yáñez Paul Schmidt PS Wang Cai C Bézier Annie A Courtial Béatrice B Cours Jérémy J Fontaneto Diego D Larrieu Laurent L Bouget Christophe C Thorn Simon S Müller Jörg J Yu Douglas W DW Monaghan Michael T MT Herniou Elisabeth A EA Lopez-Vaamonde Carlos C

Communications biology 20220118 1

Species richness, abundance and biomass of insects have recently undergone marked declines in Europe. We metabarcoded 211 Malaise-trap samples to investigate whether drought-induced forest dieback and subsequent salvage logging had an impact on ca. 3000 species of flying insects in silver fir Pyrenean forests. While forest dieback had no measurable impact on species richness, there were significant changes in community composition that were consistent with those observed during natural forest su ...[more]

PMID: 35042989

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Project description:Forest dieback because of drought is a global phenomenon threatening particular tree populations. Particularly vulnerable stands are usually located in climatically stressing locations such as xeric sites subjected to seasonal drought. These tree populations show a pronounced loss of vitality, growth decline, and high mortality in response to extreme climate events such as heat waves and droughts. However, dieback events do not uniformly affect stands, with some trees showing higher symptoms of drought vulnerability than other neighboring conspecifics. In this study, we investigated if trees showing different vulnerabilities to dieback showed lower growth rates (Grs) and higher sensitivities to the climate in the past using dendroecology and the Vaganov-Shashkin (VS) process-based growth model. We studied two Pinus pinaster stands with contrasting Grs showing recent dieback in the Iberian System, north-eastern Spain. We compared coexisting declining (D) and non-declining (ND) trees with crown defoliation values above and below the 50% threshold, respectively. The mean growth rate was lower in D than in ND trees in the two stands. The two vigor classes showed a growth divergence prior to the dieback onset and different responsiveness to climate. The ND trees were more responsive to changes in spring water balance and soil moisture than D trees, indicating a loss of growth responsiveness to the climate in stressed trees. Such an interaction between water availability and vigor was reflected by the VS-model simulations, which provided evidence for the observation that growth was mainly limited by low soil moisture in both sites. Such an interaction between water availability and vigor was reflected by the VS-model simulations, which provided evidence for the observation that growth was mainly limited by low soil moisture in both sites. The presented comparisons indicated different stand vulnerabilities to drought contingent on-site conditions. Further research should investigate the role played by environmental conditions and individual features such as access to soil water or hydraulic traits and implement them in process-based growth models to better forecast dieback.

Project description:Background and scopeVascular epiphytes have a variety of mechanisms to trap and retain water, including crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM). Niche segregation was investigated for epiphytic bromeliads on the tropical Caribbean island of Trinidad, where habitats range from lowland deciduous forests to high-rainfall montane tropical forests, ~1000 m in elevation.MethodsFour tank-impounding bromeliad epiphytes in the genus Aechmea (Ae. aquilega, Ae. fendleri, Ae. nudicaulis and Ae. dichlamydea) with CAM were mapped across their distinct geographical and elevational zonations in northern Trinidad and Tobago. Species distribution modelling was used to determine environmental limitations for each species. Anatomical and physiological measurements included leaf succulence traits, gas exchange and CAM activity; hydraulic conductance and vulnerability; stomatal sensitivity and quantum yield responses to nocturnal temperature and long-term water deficits.Key resultsA total of 2876 field observations identified the transitions between the lowland Ae. aquilega and montane Ae. fendleri, occurring >500 m a.s.l. at the drier western end of the Northern Mountain Range and at progressively lower elevations towards the wetter, eastern region. Anatomical and physiological sensitivities of gas exchange, CAM activity and water use, and responses to elevated nocturnal temperatures and drought, were markedly different for Ae. fendleri compared with Ae. aquilega or the ubiquitous Ae. nudicaulis.ConclusionsThe species distribution model highlighted the susceptibility of Ae. fendleri to a changing climate. For each species, physiological and anatomical traits were tailored to environmental tolerances, consistent with specialist or generalist niche preferences. Using Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scenarios, we predict that rapid rainfall and temperature changes will lead to the loss of Ae. fendleri and associated lower (and upper) montane forest communities from Trinidad, seriously impacting both biodiversity and critical ecosystem functions here and in other tropical island habitats. Epiphytic bromeliads act as markers for threatened communities, and their physiological tolerances represent key indicators of climate change impacts.

Dataset Information

Climate-induced forest dieback drives compositional changes in insect communities that are more pronounced for rare species.

Publications

Climate-induced forest dieback drives compositional changes in insect communities that are more pronounced for rare species.

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