Dataset Information

A "Dirty" Footprint: Macroinvertebrate diversity in Amazonian Anthropic Soils.

ABSTRACT: Amazonian rainforests, once thought to be pristine wilderness, are increasingly known to have been widely inhabited, modified, and managed prior to European arrival, by human populations with diverse cultural backgrounds. Amazonian Dark Earths (ADEs) are fertile soils found throughout the Amazon Basin, created by pre-Columbian societies with sedentary habits. Much is known about the chemistry of these soils, yet their zoology has been neglected. Hence, we characterized soil fertility, macroinvertebrate communities, and their activity at nine archeological sites in three Amazonian regions in ADEs and adjacent reference soils under native forest (young and old) and agricultural systems. We found 673 morphospecies and, despite similar richness in ADEs (385 spp.) and reference soils (399 spp.), we identified a tenacious pre-Columbian footprint, with 49% of morphospecies found exclusively in ADEs. Termite and total macroinvertebrate abundance were higher in reference soils, while soil fertility and macroinvertebrate activity were higher in the ADEs, and associated with larger earthworm quantities and biomass. We show that ADE habitats have a unique pool of species, but that modern land use of ADEs decreases their populations, diversity, and contributions to soil functioning. These findings support the idea that humans created and sustained high-fertility ecosystems that persist today, altering biodiversity patterns in Amazonia.

SUBMITTER: Demetrio WC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9292437 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

A "Dirty" Footprint: Macroinvertebrate diversity in Amazonian Anthropic Soils.

Demetrio Wilian C WC Conrado Ana C AC Acioli Agno N S ANS Ferreira Alexandre C AC Bartz Marie L C MLC James Samuel W SW da Silva Elodie E Maia Lilianne S LS Martins Gilvan C GC Macedo Rodrigo S RS Stanton David W G DWG Lavelle Patrick P Velasquez Elena E Zangerlé Anne A Barbosa Rafaella R Tapia-Coral Sandra C SC Muniz Aleksander W AW Santos Alessandra A Ferreira Talita T Segalla Rodrigo F RF Decaëns Thibaud T Nadolny Herlon S HS Peña-Venegas Clara P CP Maia Cláudia M B F CMBF Pasini Amarildo A Mota André F AF Taube Júnior Paulo S PS Silva Telma A C TAC Rebellato Lilian L de Oliveira Júnior Raimundo C RC Neves Eduardo G EG Lima Helena P HP Feitosa Rodrigo M RM Vidal Torrado Pablo P McKey Doyle D Clement Charles R CR Shock Myrtle P MP Teixeira Wenceslau G WG Motta Antônio C V ACV Melo Vander F VF Dieckow Jeferson J Garrastazu Marilice C MC Chubatsu Leda S LS Kille Peter P Brown George G GG Cunha Luís L

Global change biology 20210710 19

Amazonian rainforests, once thought to be pristine wilderness, are increasingly known to have been widely inhabited, modified, and managed prior to European arrival, by human populations with diverse cultural backgrounds. Amazonian Dark Earths (ADEs) are fertile soils found throughout the Amazon Basin, created by pre-Columbian societies with sedentary habits. Much is known about the chemistry of these soils, yet their zoology has been neglected. Hence, we characterized soil fertility, macroinver ...[more]

PMID: 34118093

Similar Datasets

Project description:The habitat heterogeneity hypothesis states that increased habitat heterogeneity promotes species diversity through increased availability of ecological niches. We aimed at describing the local-scale (i.e. nest and adjacent substrate) effects of nests of the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus L.) as ecosystem engineer on macroinvertebrate assemblages. We hypothesized that increased streambed physical heterogeneity caused by sea lamprey spawning would modify invertebrate assemblages and specific biologic traits and promote reach-scale diversity. We sampled thirty lamprey nests of the Nive River, a river of the south western France with a length of 79.3 km and tributary of the Adour River, in three zones: the unmodified riverbed (upstream) and zones corresponding to the nest: the area excavated (pit) and the downstream accumulation of pebbles and cobbles (mound). The increased habitat heterogeneity created by lamprey was accompanied by biological heterogeneity with a reduced density of invertebrates (3777 ± 1332 individuals per m2 in upstream, 2649 ± 1386 individuals per m2 in pit and 3833 ± 1052 individuals per m2 in mound) and number of taxa (23.5 ± 3.9 taxa for upstream, 18.6 ± 3.9 taxa in pit and 21.2 ± 4.5 taxa for mound) in the pit compared to other zones. However the overall taxa diversity in nest increased with 82 ± 14 taxa compared to the 69 ± 8 taxa estimated in upstream zone. Diversity indices were consistent with the previous results indicating a loss of α diversity in pit but a higher β diversity between a pit and a mound than between two upstream zones, especially considering Morisita index accounting for taxa abundance. Trait analysis showed high functional diversity within zones with a reduced proportion of collectors, scrapers, shredders, litter/mud preference and small invertebrates in mound, while the proportion of "slabs, blocks, stones and pebbles" preference and largest invertebrates increased. Pit presented the opposite trend, while upstream had globally intermediate trait proportions. Our results highlight important effects on species and functional diversity due to habitat heterogeneity created by a nest-building species, what can ultimately influence food webs and nutrient processes in river ecosystems.

Dataset Information

A "Dirty" Footprint: Macroinvertebrate diversity in Amazonian Anthropic Soils.

Publications

A "Dirty" Footprint: Macroinvertebrate diversity in Amazonian Anthropic Soils.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets