Soil arthropods indicate the range of plant facilitation on the soil of Mediterranean drylands

Meloni, Fernando; Martinêz, Alexandre Souto

doi:10.1007/s12080-020-00498-z

Cited by 3 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…Taking an arbitrary unit (u) as a reference and considering that an average functional patch shows a diameter of 3 u, the modeling approach suggests that distances between patches from 18 to 24 u would impose important barriers to the migration of soil fauna. This is consistent with field studies conducted in drylands from Southern Spain, which indicate that only patches sizing 1 m in diameter or larger can support great abundance and diversity of mesofauna and microfauna, while some meters of distance between patches are enough to isolate soil communities (Meloni & Martinez 2021). It is also important to highlight that the migratory events are drastically affected by stepping stones, which increase the chances of colonization and reduce the time necessary for the community to establish in the target patch (Fig.…”

Section: Strategies To Foster the Colonizationsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…The evidence points to a relatively large abundance and diversity of arthropods living in litter and soil under large vegetation patches. Still, these values abruptly decay in bare soil regions, at 50 cm from the patch border (Meloni & Martinez 2021). Consequently, drylands show areas that favor the occurrence of soil fauna (with vegetation) and regions that hamper their establishment or even their movement (bare soil).…”

Section: Planning Restoration Actions To Foster the Recovery Of Soil ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This process is affected by (1) the development of local vegetation and (2) the distance between the restored site and the natural ecosystems in its neighborhood (Meloni & Varanda 2015). Accordingly, drylands seem to follow a similar pattern, but on a smaller scale, changing from kilometers to meters (Meloni et al 2020;Meloni & Martinez 2021). This information highlights the importance of adequate strategies to integrate information from the neighborhood to foster the establishment of soil organisms.…”

Section: Planning Restoration Actions To Foster the Recovery Of Soil ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Notoriously, field experiments reveal that the patchy structure of vegetation predominantly marks the occurrence of soil fauna. Accordingly, vegetation cover and spatial arrangement of patches define which regions of the landscape can support rich soil communities and which cannot (Doblas-Miranda et al 2007;Meloni et al 2020;Meloni & Martinez 2021). The evidence points to a relatively large abundance and diversity of arthropods living in litter and soil under large vegetation patches.…”

Section: Planning Restoration Actions To Foster the Recovery Of Soil ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Also, dryland vegetation is spatially structured as stains, or patches, scattered along with the matrix of bare soil (Tongway & Hindley 2004). Together, these properties impose additional limitations on organisms to survive and migrate (Hardegree et al 2016;Meloni & Martinez 2021). Beyond the expected effects of exposed soils regions, reductions in vegetation cover can lead to non-trivial changes in the water regime on the surface, which reduces the water infiltration and increases soil erosion (Rodrigues et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Soil fauna and its potential use in the ecological restoration of dryland ecosystems

Morales‐Márquez¹,

Meloni

2022

Restoration Ecology

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In dryland environments, where rain is scarce and unpredictable, ecological restoration of degraded ecosystems presents significant challenges. Several restoration techniques based on the functioning of ecosystems have emerged, emphasizing the ecological interactions that promote natural succession. In other environments, the use of soil fauna has been recommended to help accelerate ecological succession due to its effects on the maintenance and improvement of the physical–chemical and biological properties of the soil. Soil fauna is also a seed disperser. It indirectly contributes to the early regeneration of the aboveground community, controls pests, and directly contributes to the maintenance of biological processes in soil. However, its use to restore dryland environments has seldom been considered. Based on a bibliographic review, several key aspects of the importance and the use of soil fauna in the ecological restoration of dryland ecosystems are discussed, and several recommendations are given. The successional, spatial, and functional aspects are considered to focus on the restoration context. In addition, technical recommendations are provided to accelerate the rapid colonization of soil fauna and to foster the recovery of soil processes. And lastly, the importance of carrying out future manipulative studies investigating the effects of specific soil groups on dryland ecological restoration is highlighted, specifically regarding the improvement of functional parameters such as soil stability and quality.

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Section: Strategies To Foster the Colonizationsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Planning Restoration Actions To Foster the Recovery Of Soil ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Planning Restoration Actions To Foster the Recovery Of Soil ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Planning Restoration Actions To Foster the Recovery Of Soil ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Soil fauna and its potential use in the ecological restoration of dryland ecosystems

Morales‐Márquez¹,

Meloni

2022

Restoration Ecology

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Tree richness affects ground‐ant diversity and seed dispersal in a tropical biodiversity–ecosystem function experiment

Dantas,

Ganade

et al. 2024

Oikos

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The global loss of plant diversity is expected to have reverberating effects on other trophic levels, affecting the structure and functioning of ecosystems. To understand such effects, biodiversity–ecosystem function (BEF) experiments that manipulate tree diversity have been established around the world. In a BEF experiment carried out since 2016 in a seasonally dry tropical forest, we examined the effects of tree diversity, facilitation and density of trees with extrafloral nectaries on the abundance, richness, functional diversity and phylogenetic diversity of ground ants. Also, we used artificial seeds to test seed dispersal efficiency of ants within the experiment. Generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) showed that tree richness positively affects ant abundance, richness, functional diversity and phylogenetic diversity. Also, tree richness had a strong positive effect on the proportion of dispersed seeds, as well as their dispersal distance. Contrary to our expectations, facilitation and the number of trees with extrafloral nectaries did not affect ground ants and their functions. Our results indicate that the global impoverishment of tree communities can affect several dimensions of ant diversity and their ecosystem functions, including forest regeneration processes.

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Ephedra shrubs facilitate local arthropod communities in the Andean Puna: Implications for conservation and habitat restoration

Yela,

Torréns,

Díaz Casas

et al. 2023

Ecol Austral

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In high-altitude deserts, the vegetation is spatially structured as a mosaic of patches with vegetation and interpatches of bare soil. Shrub patches create microhabitats that facilitate the persistence of other organisms by ameliorating climate extremes and increasing soil nutrients and moisture. Although this facilitative effect has been studied mainly on shrub understorey plants, the positive influence of desert shrubs may extend to the local arthropod community. In this study, we examined the hypothesis that plant facilitation by the desert shrub species Ephedra multiflora and E. breana positively influences the epigeal arthropod communities of the Andean Puna. We found that arthropod abundance, richness and diversity were all higher on Ephedra shrub microsites relative to paired open microsites. The harsh environmental conditions prevailing in the Puna ecosystems and the protection and resources provided by plants could jointly explain the positive influence of Ephedra shrubs over the arthropod community. The growth of tourism and the boom for lithium, as well as the increasing drought expected for the region under climate change scenarios, strengthens the importance of conserving shrub cover in these ecosystems to sustain biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Our results are also relevant for restoration projects that consider the whole biological community, where using Ephedra as foundation shrubs to support desert endemics could be a strategy for land restoration.

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Soil arthropods indicate the range of plant facilitation on the soil of Mediterranean drylands

Cited by 3 publications

References 64 publications

Soil fauna and its potential use in the ecological restoration of dryland ecosystems

Soil fauna and its potential use in the ecological restoration of dryland ecosystems

Tree richness affects ground‐ant diversity and seed dispersal in a tropical biodiversity–ecosystem function experiment

Ephedra shrubs facilitate local arthropod communities in the Andean Puna: Implications for conservation and habitat restoration

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