Tropical rainforest conversion and land use intensification reduce understorey plant phylogenetic diversity

Kusuma, Yayan Wahyu Candra; Rembold, Katja; Tjitrosoedirdjo, S.; Kreft, Holger

doi:10.1111/1365-2664.13201

Cited by 22 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 83 publications

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“…Observed decreases in taxonomic biodiversity accompanying rainforest conversion to managed land use systems were reported previously for various types of organisms [ 10 , 11 , 41 , 42 ]. Diversity of bacteria and archaea decreased in plantation soils compared to rainforest.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

Unravelling the effects of tropical land use conversion on the soil microbiome

Hölscher

Schneider

Meryandini

et al. 2020

Environmental Microbiome

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Background: The consequences of deforestation and agricultural treatments are complex and affect all trophic levels. Changes of microbial community structure and composition associated with rainforest conversion to managed systems such as rubber and oil palm plantations have been shown by 16S rRNA gene analysis previously, but functional profile shifts have been rarely addressed. In this study, we analysed the effects of rainforest conversion to different converted land use systems, including agroforestry ("jungle rubber") and monoculture plantations comprising rubber and oil palm, on soilborne microbial communities by metagenomic shotgun sequencing in Sumatra, Indonesia.Results: The diversity of bacteria and archaea decreased whereas diversity of fungi increased in the converted land use systems. The soil microbiome was dominated by bacteria followed by fungi. We detected negative effects of land use conversion on the abundance of Proteobacteria (especially on Rhizobiales and Burkholderiales) and positive effects on the abundance of Acidobacteria and Actinobacteria. These abundance changes were mainly driven by pH, C:N ratio, and Fe, C and N content. With increasing land use intensity, the functional diversity decreased for bacteria, archaea and fungi. Gene abundances of specific metabolisms such as nitrogen metabolism and carbon fixation were affected by land use management practices. The abundance of genes related to denitrification and nitrogen fixation increased in plantations while abundance of genes involved in nitrification and methane oxidation showed no significant difference. Linking taxonomic and functional assignment per read indicated that nitrogen metabolism-related genes were mostly assigned to members of the Rhizobiales and Burkholderiales. Abundances of carbon fixation genes increased also with increasing land use intensity. Motility-and interaction-related genes, especially genes involved in flagellar assembly and chemotaxis genes, decreased towards managed land use systems. This indicated a shift in mobility and interspecific interactions in bacterial communities within these soils. Conclusions: Rainforest conversion to managed land use systems drastically affects structure and functional potential of soil microbial communities. The decrease in motility-and interaction-related functions from rainforest to converted land use systems indicated not only a shift in nutrient cycling but also in community dynamics. Fertilizer application and correspondingly higher availability of nutrients in intensively managed plantations lead to an environment in which interspecific interactions are not favoured compared to rainforest soils. We could directly link effects of land management, microbial community structure and functional potential for several metabolic processes. As our study is the first study of this size and detail on soil microbial communities in tropical systems, we provide a basis for further analyses.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

Unravelling the effects of tropical land use conversion on the soil microbiome

Hölscher

Schneider

Meryandini

et al. 2020

Environmental Microbiome

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“…Similarly, invasions by alien species contribute to phylogenetic overdispersion of plant communities in agricultural systems (Kusuma et al. 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rainforest conversion to monocultures favors generalist ants with large colonies

et al. 2021

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The conversion of natural ecosystems to agricultural land is one of the most important drivers of biodiversity decline worldwide, particularly in the tropics. Species loss is typically trait‐associated, leading to filtering of disturbance‐resistant species during community assembly, which affects ecosystem functioning and evolutionary potential of communities. To understand the ecological and phylogenetic impact of rainforest conversion to agricultural systems, we combine analysis of nesting habit, feeding habit, colony size, and body size of canopy ants (Formicidae) with a phylogenetic analysis of species collected in four land‐use systems in Sumatra, Indonesia: (1) lowland tropical rainforest, (2) jungle rubber (extensive rubber agroforest), and smallholder plantations of (3) rubber and (4) oil palm. Canopy ant communities in these land‐use systems differed in trait composition, with a larger proportion of generalist nesting and generalist‐omnivore feeding species in oil palm compared to rainforest and a larger proportion of generalist nesters and species with large colonies (>1000 individuals) in rubber than in rainforest. Traits of canopy ant communities in jungle rubber were more similar to those in rainforest than to those in rubber and oil palm plantations. In rainforest, mean pairwise phylogenetic distance was lower than expected for random community assembly, but did not differ from random in the other land‐use systems. Of the traits nesting habit, feeding habit, and colony size, only feeding habit exhibited phylogenetic signal. Our results show that rainforest conversion to agricultural systems is accompanied by shifts in trait composition of canopy ant communities. Further, our results argue against environmental filtering of closely related canopy ant species as the major community assembly mechanism in plantation systems, but suggest that the Sumatran lowland rainforests harbor recently diverged endemic ant species that are particularly vulnerable to rainforest conversion to agricultural systems. Given the importance of ants for tropical ecosystems, the ecological differences among ant communities along the land‐use gradient might have important consequences for ecosystem functioning and services in plantation systems.

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“…The extinction of habitat-specialist species and the colonization of disturbance tolerant and generalist species are the main mechanisms of biotic homogenization (Devictor et al, 2008;Harrison et al, 2014;Auffret et al, 2018), a process that occurs when different ecosystems subject to similar disturbances converge in terms of species composition and/or function (McKinney and Lockwood, 1999;Robertson et al, 2013;Kusuma et al, 2018). Usually, biotic homogenization takes place gradually, as neither mechanism is instantaneous.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Land Use History on Biodiversity of Pine Plantations

2021

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The growing replacement of native vegetation by forest plantations is considered a global threat to biodiversity. Significant variation in biotic communities among stands with similar management suggests that previous land use might have an effect on the capacity of forest plantations to harbor native species. The goal of our study was to determine the effect of land-use history on the biodiversity currently present in pine plantations in the coastal range of Central Chile. In particular, we hypothesized that plantations that directly replaced native forests should have higher diversity of plants and birds than plantations that were established in agricultural areas. We also expected that plantations of higher number of rotations should have fewer habitat-specialists and more generalists/exotics, reflecting a process of biotic homogenization. Using aerial photographs and satellite images encompassing a period of six decades, we classified 108 4-ha sampling units into native forests, and mature (17–20 year) pine plantations of first, second, and third rotation, of either forest or agricultural origin. At each site, we collected data on the abundance and richness of diurnal birds and understory plants, and analyzed their behavior in relation to the land-use history using Generalized Linear Models (GLMs). Also, we evaluated dissimilarity of communities of each pine plantation “treatment” to assess the occurrence of biotic homogenization. As predicted, pine plantations that directly replaced native forests had a higher abundance of forest specialists and less abundance of exotics and generalists than plantations of agricultural origin. In contrast, the number of rotations of pine plantations not only did not affect negatively the diversity and abundance of forest specialist species, but the models showed some signs of naturalization in the studied systems over time, such as the increase in the abundance of native herbs and a reduction in the abundance of their exotic counterparts. These results agree with the lack of evidence for a decrease in the dissimilarity of biotic communities in plantations with time, suggesting that the management of pine plantations in Central Chile is not promoting biotic homogenization, beyond the impact of the initial stages of land use change.

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Tropical rainforest conversion and land use intensification reduce understorey plant phylogenetic diversity

Cited by 22 publications

References 83 publications

Unravelling the effects of tropical land use conversion on the soil microbiome

Unravelling the effects of tropical land use conversion on the soil microbiome

Rainforest conversion to monocultures favors generalist ants with large colonies

Effect of Land Use History on Biodiversity of Pine Plantations

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