Rigal , F , Cardoso , P , Lobo , J M , Triantis , K A , Whittaker , R J , Amorim , I R & Borges , P A V 2018 , ' Functional traits of indigenous and exotic ground-dwelling arthropods show contrasting responses to land-use change in an oceanic island, Terceira, Azores ' , Diversity and Distributions , vol. 24 , no. 1 , pp. 36-47 . https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12655
Title: | Functional traits of indigenous and exotic ground-dwelling arthropods show contrasting responses to land-use change in an oceanic island, Terceira, Azores |
Author: | Rigal, Francois; Cardoso, Pedro; Lobo, Jorge M.; Triantis, Kostas A.; Whittaker, Robert J.; Amorim, Isabel R.; Borges, Paulo A. V. |
Contributor organization: | Finnish Museum of Natural History Zoology |
Date: | 2018-01 |
Language: | eng |
Number of pages: | 12 |
Belongs to series: | Diversity and Distributions |
ISSN: | 1366-9516 |
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12655 |
URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10138/238078 |
Abstract: | Aim: Land-use change typically goes hand in hand with the introduction of exotic-species, which mingle with indigenous species to form novel assemblages. Here, we compare the functional structure of indigenous and exotic elements of ground-dwelling arthropod assemblages across four land-uses of varying management intensity. Location: Terceira Island (Azores, North Atlantic). Methods: We used pitfall traps to sample arthropods in 36 sites across the four land-uses and collated traits related to dispersal ability, body size and resource use. For both indigenous and exotic species, we examined the impact of land-uses on trait diversity and tested for the existence of non-random assembly processes using null models. We analysed differences in trait composition among land-uses for both indigenous and exotic species with multivariate analyses. We used point-biserial correlations to identity traits significantly correlated with specific land-uses for each element. Results: We recorded 86 indigenous and 116 exotic arthropod species. Under high-intensity land-use, both indigenous and exotic elements showed significant trait clustering. Trait composition strongly shifted across land-uses, with indigenous and exotic species being functionally dissimilar in all land-uses. Large-bodied herbivores dominated exotic elements in low-intensity land-uses, while small-bodied spiders dominated exotic elements in high-intensity land-uses. In contrast, with increasing land-use intensity, indigenous species changed from functionally diverse to being dominated by piercing and cutting herbivores. Main conclusions: Our study revealed two main findings: first, in high-intensity - land-uses, trait clustering characterized both indigenous and exotic elements; second, exotic species differed in their functional profile from indigenous species in all land-use types. Overall, our results provide new insights into the functional role of exotic species in a land-use context, suggesting that, in agricultural landscape, exotic species may contribute positively to the maintenance of some ecosystem functions. |
Subject: |
1172 Environmental sciences
arthropods Azores community assembly exotic species functional diversity indigenous species USE INTENSIFICATION AGRICULTURAL LANDSCAPES MACARONESIAN SPIDERS COMMUNITY ECOLOGY DIVERSITY BIODIVERSITY MANAGEMENT RICHNESS HABITAT PREDATORS |
Peer reviewed: | Yes |
Rights: | unspecified |
Usage restriction: | openAccess |
Self-archived version: | publishedVersion |
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