Protura are unique: first evidence of specialized feeding on ectomycorrhizal fungi in soil invertebrates

Eitzinger

Front. For. Glob. Change

et al. 2021

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Forest soil food webs have been assumed to be fueled substantially by root-derived resources. However, until today the flux of root-derived resources into soil animals has been investigated virtually exclusively using isotope labeling experiments, whereas studies on the consequences of disrupting the flux of root-derived resources into the soil animal food web are scarce. We here investigated the importance of root-derived resources for a wide range of soil animals by interrupting the resource flux into the soil of different forest types in Central Europe using a trenching experiment. We recorded the abundance of soil animal taxa varying in body size (micro-, meso-, and macrofauna) 1 and 3 years after root trenching, and quantified changes in biomass, species composition, and trophic shift using stable isotopes and NLFA analysis. Among the microfauna groups studied (trophic groups of Nematoda) only the abundance of plant feeding nematodes showed a trend in being decreased by -58% due to root trenching. Major soil mesofauna groups, including Collembola and Oribatida, suffered to a similar extent from root trenching with their abundance and biomass being reduced by about 30–40%. The soil macrofauna groups studied (Diplopoda, Isopoda, Chilopoda, Araneae, Coleoptera) generally were only little affected by root trenching suggesting that they rely less on root-derived resources than micro- and in particular mesofauna. Notably, the community structure of micro-, meso-, and macrofauna was not affected by root trenching. Further, we observed trophic shifts only in 2 out of 10 investigated species with the shifts generally being only minor. The results indicate that soil animal communities are markedly resilient to deprivation of root-derived resources suggesting that links to root-derived resources are non-specific. However, this resilience appears to vary with body size, with mesofauna including both decomposers as well as predators being more sensitive to the deprivation of root-derived resources than microfauna (except for root feeders) and macrofauna. Overall, this suggests that body size constrains the channeling of energy through soil food webs, with root-derived resources in temperate forests being channeled predominantly via soil taxa of intermediate size, i.e., mesofauna.

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Root-Derived Resources on Forest Soil Invertebrates Depends on Body Size and Trophic Position

Eitzinger

Front. For. Glob. Change

et al. 2021

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“…In general, Protura can be found wherever decaying organic matter and sufficient moisture levels are available [1,8], and often are restricted to habitats characterized by luxuriant vegetation growth [7]. It is believed that proturans are fungivorous and some species may feed preferentially on ectomycorrhizal fungi [41]. It is not surprising, therefore, that proturans have rarely been collected in tundra biome, which marks the northern limit of their distribution.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Protura in Arctic Regions, with Description of Mastodonentomon n. gen. (Acerentomidae, Nipponentominae) and a Key to Known Arctic Taxa

Shrubovych

Smykla

Bernard

2020

Insects

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Protura are widespread, but their presence in the Arctic was first noted only ca. 70 years ago and is still little acknowledged. This work compiles taxonomic information on proturans in the Arctic regions and adds unpublished data from Northern Siberia. Currently, this fauna is represented by 23 species in two orders and 14 genera. The large cosmopolitan genus Eosentomon is represented by only four species, whereas Acerentomidae is much more diverse, with 19 species in 13 genera (eight Nipponentominae, five Acerentominae). Most of the Arctic species possess a larger number of setae than species living in temperate regions. Based on several unique characters, a new genus, Mastodonentomon, is erected for Nipponentomon macleani, and the species is re-described with the original description supplemented with new characters, including head chaetotaxy, seta length, and porotaxy. Proturan occurrence in the Arctic is limited to Beringia, but the majority of species have restricted distributions and none have been found in both the American Arctic and Siberia. This implies relict origins and high levels of proturan endemism in the Arctic. This emerging view on biogeographical history is, however, hampered by the limited extent of available data, which highlights the need for considerably greater survey efforts. A key to Arctic proturans is provided to facilitate further studies.

“…According to Šantrůčková et al 30 , the higher ability of granite to release phosphorous into the soil supports higher microbiologically mediated P-fluxes. This essential nutrient can directly mediate root colonization by mycorrhizal fungi 43 , which provide a major food resource for proturan 23 . Thus the relationship between proturans and differences in soil geochemistry between the catchments can be related to the indirect influence of bedrock on fungal community composition.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the lack of appropriate data on proturan feeding ecology and trophic relationships prevents us from informed connections between species distributions and their potential food resources, the preference of at least some species for ectotrophic mycorrhizal fungi was shown by some authors e.g. 23 . This indicates that proturans can be highly sensitive to soil geochemistry and environmental changes that impact mycorrhizae.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Responses of soil microarthropod taxon (Hexapoda: Protura) to natural disturbances and management practices in forest-dominated subalpine lake catchment areas

Sterzyńska

Shrubovych

Tajovský

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Disturbances are intrinsic drivers of structure and function in ecosystems, hence predicting their effects in forest ecosystems is essential for forest conservation and/or management practices. Yet, knowledge regarding belowground impacts of disturbance events still remains little understood and can greatly vary by taxonomic and functional identity, disturbance type and local environmental conditions. To address this gap in knowledge, we conducted a survey of soil-dwelling Protura, across forests subjected to different disturbance regimes (i.e. windstorms, insect pest outbreaks and clear-cut logging). We expected that the soil proturan assemblages would differ among disturbance regimes. We also hypothesized that these differences would be driven primarily by variation in soil physicochemical properties thus the impacts of forest disturbances would be indirect and related to changes in food resources. To verify that sampling included two geographically distant subalpine glacial lake catchments that differed in underlying geology, each having four different types of forest disturbance, i.e. control, bark beetle outbreak (BB), windthrow + BB (wind + BB) and clear-cut. As expected, forest disturbance had negative effects on proturan diversity and abundance, with multiple disturbances having the greatest impacts. However, differences in edaphic factors constituted a stronger driver of variability in distribution and abundance of proturans assemblages. These results imply that soil biogeochemistry and resource availability can have much stronger effects on proturan assemblages than forest disturbances. Disturbances, natural and anthropogenic, are a common and intrinsic element of temperate forest ecosystems 1 and play an important role in forest dynamics 2. Seidl et al. 3 have documented that across Europe, forest disturbance regimes have intensified markedly due to considerable increases in damage from insect outbreaks, windstorms and/or wildfires. As a result, growing disturbance risk necessitates greater attention to the management of the forest ecosystem 4. Disturbance events such as insect outbreaks, windstorms and forest management practices applied after natural disturbances can strongly modulate forest structure, functioning and biodiversity 5,6 , and affect the natural, beneficial roles played by forests. Despite this the responses of species and taxa that inhabit