Dynamic effects of ground-layer plant communities on beetles in a fragmented farming landscape
- Ng, Katherina, McIntyre, Sue, Macfadyen, Sarina, Barton, Philip, Driscoll, Don, Lindenmayer, David
- Authors: Ng, Katherina , McIntyre, Sue , Macfadyen, Sarina , Barton, Philip , Driscoll, Don , Lindenmayer, David
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Biodiversity and Conservation Vol. 27, no. 9 (2018), p. 2131-2153
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- Description: Vegetation effects on arthropods are well recognized, but it is unclear how different vegetation attributes might influence arthropod assemblages across mixed-agricultural landscapes. Understanding how plant communities influence arthropods under different habitat and seasonal contexts can identify vegetation management options for arthropod biodiversity. We examined relationships between vegetation structure, plant species richness and plant species composition, and the diversity and composition of beetles in different habitats and time periods. We asked: (1) What is the relative importance of plant species richness, vegetation structure and plant composition in explaining beetle species richness, activity-density and composition? (2) How do plant-beetle relationships vary between different habitats over time? We sampled beetles using pitfall traps and surveyed vegetation in three habitats (woodland, farmland, their edges) during peak crop growth in spring and post-harvest in summer. Plant composition better predicted beetle composition than vegetation structure. Both plant richness and vegetation structure significantly and positively affected beetle activity-density. The influence of all vegetation attributes often varied in strength and direction between habitats and seasons for all trophic groups. The variable nature of plant-beetle relationships suggests that vegetation management could be targeted at specific habitats and time periods to maximize positive outcomes for beetle diversity. In particular, management that promotes plant richness at edges, and promotes herbaceous cover during summer, can support beetle diversity. Conserving ground cover in all habitats may improve activity-density of all beetle trophic groups. The impacts of existing weed control strategies in Australian crop margins on arthropod biodiversity require further study. © 2018, Springer Science+Business Media B.V., part of Springer Nature.
- Authors: Ng, Katherina , McIntyre, Sue , Macfadyen, Sarina , Barton, Philip , Driscoll, Don , Lindenmayer, David
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Biodiversity and Conservation Vol. 27, no. 9 (2018), p. 2131-2153
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Vegetation effects on arthropods are well recognized, but it is unclear how different vegetation attributes might influence arthropod assemblages across mixed-agricultural landscapes. Understanding how plant communities influence arthropods under different habitat and seasonal contexts can identify vegetation management options for arthropod biodiversity. We examined relationships between vegetation structure, plant species richness and plant species composition, and the diversity and composition of beetles in different habitats and time periods. We asked: (1) What is the relative importance of plant species richness, vegetation structure and plant composition in explaining beetle species richness, activity-density and composition? (2) How do plant-beetle relationships vary between different habitats over time? We sampled beetles using pitfall traps and surveyed vegetation in three habitats (woodland, farmland, their edges) during peak crop growth in spring and post-harvest in summer. Plant composition better predicted beetle composition than vegetation structure. Both plant richness and vegetation structure significantly and positively affected beetle activity-density. The influence of all vegetation attributes often varied in strength and direction between habitats and seasons for all trophic groups. The variable nature of plant-beetle relationships suggests that vegetation management could be targeted at specific habitats and time periods to maximize positive outcomes for beetle diversity. In particular, management that promotes plant richness at edges, and promotes herbaceous cover during summer, can support beetle diversity. Conserving ground cover in all habitats may improve activity-density of all beetle trophic groups. The impacts of existing weed control strategies in Australian crop margins on arthropod biodiversity require further study. © 2018, Springer Science+Business Media B.V., part of Springer Nature.
Substantial long-term effects of carcass addition on soil and plants in a grassy eucalypt woodland
- Barton, Philip, McIntyre, Sue, Evans, Maldwyn, Bump, Joseph, Cunningham, Saul, Manning, Adrian
- Authors: Barton, Philip , McIntyre, Sue , Evans, Maldwyn , Bump, Joseph , Cunningham, Saul , Manning, Adrian
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Ecosphere Vol. 7, no. 10 (2016), p.
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- Description: The decomposition of large vertebrate carcasses generates small-scale disturbances characterized by changes in soil chemistry and new opportunities for plant establishment. Yet few studies have examined whether this effect is still evident several years after death, or has consequences for landscape-scale heterogeneity. We examined soil chemistry and plant species richness and composition at 12 kangaroo carcasses (~30 kg initial mass) five years after their initial placement. Each carcass was paired with a nearby "control" site for comparison. We found that soil phosphorus was eight times higher at carcasses than at control sites, but that nitrogen concentration was similar. We also found that plant composition was substantially different between each carcass and control pair, with 80% of carcasses dominated by exotic species (mostly weedy annuals). Notably, overall variability in plant species composition across carcass sites was not different from the variability at control sites, indicating that the colonization of carcasses by weedy species did not have a homogenizing effect on plant assemblages across our study landscape. Our study demonstrates that a localized effect of large vertebrate carcasses on soil and plants was still evident after five years, indicating a state shift in the soil-plant dynamics at a carcass site. However, the effect of carcasses on landscape-scale plant community heterogeneity was minimal because colonization was by weedy plants already present in the landscape. © 2016 Barton et al.
- Authors: Barton, Philip , McIntyre, Sue , Evans, Maldwyn , Bump, Joseph , Cunningham, Saul , Manning, Adrian
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Ecosphere Vol. 7, no. 10 (2016), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: The decomposition of large vertebrate carcasses generates small-scale disturbances characterized by changes in soil chemistry and new opportunities for plant establishment. Yet few studies have examined whether this effect is still evident several years after death, or has consequences for landscape-scale heterogeneity. We examined soil chemistry and plant species richness and composition at 12 kangaroo carcasses (~30 kg initial mass) five years after their initial placement. Each carcass was paired with a nearby "control" site for comparison. We found that soil phosphorus was eight times higher at carcasses than at control sites, but that nitrogen concentration was similar. We also found that plant composition was substantially different between each carcass and control pair, with 80% of carcasses dominated by exotic species (mostly weedy annuals). Notably, overall variability in plant species composition across carcass sites was not different from the variability at control sites, indicating that the colonization of carcasses by weedy species did not have a homogenizing effect on plant assemblages across our study landscape. Our study demonstrates that a localized effect of large vertebrate carcasses on soil and plants was still evident after five years, indicating a state shift in the soil-plant dynamics at a carcass site. However, the effect of carcasses on landscape-scale plant community heterogeneity was minimal because colonization was by weedy plants already present in the landscape. © 2016 Barton et al.
Fine-scale drivers of beetle diversity are affected by vegetation context and agricultural history
- Ross, Catherine, Barton, Philip, McIntyre, Sue, Cunningham, Saul, Manning, Adrian
- Authors: Ross, Catherine , Barton, Philip , McIntyre, Sue , Cunningham, Saul , Manning, Adrian
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Austral Ecology Vol. 42, no. 7 (2017), p. 831-843
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Environmental gradients have been shown to affect animal diversity, but knowledge of fine-scale drivers of insect diversity is, in many cases, poorly developed. We investigated the drivers of beetle diversity and composition at different microhabitats, and how this may be mediated by past agricultural activities. The study was undertaken in temperate eucalypt grassy woodland near Canberra, south-eastern Australia, with a 200-year history of pastoral land use. We sampled beetles using pitfall traps at three microhabitats (open grassland, logs and under trees). We analysed the effects of soil properties, vegetation structure, and plant composition on beetle composition, and compared beetle responses among the microhabitats. We found that microhabitat was a strong determinant of the way beetle communities responded to their environment. Soil nutrients (C, N and P) were the strongest drivers of beetle species richness, abundance and composition at open and log microhabitat, however vegetation structure (tree basal area) was more important for beetle richness, abundance and biomass under trees. We also found significant differences in beetle composition among distinct ground-layer plant communities at log and tree microhabitat. We show that prior agricultural land use, particularly fertilization, has altered soil and plant communities, and that these effects continue to flow through the system affecting beetle assemblages. These findings have implications for future management of microhabitat structures in temperate grassy woodlands with a history of agricultural use. © 2017 Ecological Society of Australia
Contrasting beetle assemblage responses to cultivated farmlands and native woodlands in a dynamic agricultural landscape
- Ng, Katherina, Driscoll, Don, MacFadyen, Sarina, Barton, Philip, McIntyre, Sue, Lindenmayer, David
- Authors: Ng, Katherina , Driscoll, Don , MacFadyen, Sarina , Barton, Philip , McIntyre, Sue , Lindenmayer, David
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Ecosphere Vol. 8, no. 12 (2017), p.
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- Description: There is an urgent need to identify ways of managing agricultural landscapes for biodiversity conservation without reducing food production. Farming practices that consider spatiooral heterogeneity of farm fields may be a feasible alternative to large-scale revegetation of farmlands for maintaining arthropod biodiversity and their important ecological function. We examined seasonal differences in beetle assemblages in woodland remnants and four adjoining farmland uses in a highly modified agricultural landscape in southeastern Australia. The farmland uses were crops, fallows, and two restoration treatments (fine woody debris applied over harvested crop fields, and restoration plantings). Unexpectedly, overall species richness was significantly lower in remnants than in adjacent farmlands. Remnants and farmlands supported significantly different assemblages, with a third of species found in both habitats. Abundance responses were taxon-specific and influenced by interactions between land use and season. In particular, predator abundance was significantly higher in plantings and fallows during spring compared to summer. Detritivore abundance was significantly higher in the woody debris compared to the adjacent remnants. Herbivore abundance did not differ between remnants and farmlands over time. Complex responses provide strong support for a mosaic of land uses to effectively conserve different beetle groups. Species richness results suggest that further agricultural intensification, in farm fields and through the removal of remnant vegetation, risks reducing beetle diversity in this region. Maintaining farmland heterogeneity with a mix of low-intensity land uses, such as conservation tillage, crop-fallow rotation, restoration plantings, and the novel application of fine woody debris over cultivated fields, may provide seasonal refuge and resources for beetles. © 2017 Ng et al.
- Authors: Ng, Katherina , Driscoll, Don , MacFadyen, Sarina , Barton, Philip , McIntyre, Sue , Lindenmayer, David
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Ecosphere Vol. 8, no. 12 (2017), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: There is an urgent need to identify ways of managing agricultural landscapes for biodiversity conservation without reducing food production. Farming practices that consider spatiooral heterogeneity of farm fields may be a feasible alternative to large-scale revegetation of farmlands for maintaining arthropod biodiversity and their important ecological function. We examined seasonal differences in beetle assemblages in woodland remnants and four adjoining farmland uses in a highly modified agricultural landscape in southeastern Australia. The farmland uses were crops, fallows, and two restoration treatments (fine woody debris applied over harvested crop fields, and restoration plantings). Unexpectedly, overall species richness was significantly lower in remnants than in adjacent farmlands. Remnants and farmlands supported significantly different assemblages, with a third of species found in both habitats. Abundance responses were taxon-specific and influenced by interactions between land use and season. In particular, predator abundance was significantly higher in plantings and fallows during spring compared to summer. Detritivore abundance was significantly higher in the woody debris compared to the adjacent remnants. Herbivore abundance did not differ between remnants and farmlands over time. Complex responses provide strong support for a mosaic of land uses to effectively conserve different beetle groups. Species richness results suggest that further agricultural intensification, in farm fields and through the removal of remnant vegetation, risks reducing beetle diversity in this region. Maintaining farmland heterogeneity with a mix of low-intensity land uses, such as conservation tillage, crop-fallow rotation, restoration plantings, and the novel application of fine woody debris over cultivated fields, may provide seasonal refuge and resources for beetles. © 2017 Ng et al.
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