Interactions between a detrital resource pulse and a detritivore community

Abstract

Detritivore communities influence the decomposition of detrital resources in virtually all natural systems. Conversely, detrital resources can also have considerable bottom-up effects on detritivore communities. While many investigations have examined detritivory and decomposition processes, few have considered interactions between detritivores and detritus as concurrent processes in the same system, or in the context of natural detrital pulses. In many systems, resource pulses contribute substantial detrital inputs to belowground systems. These detrital pulses may influence interactions between the detritivore community and detrital decomposition. I conducted field experiments to investigate interactions between detrital resource pulses of periodical cicada (Magicicada spp.) carcasses and scavenging detritivorous macroarthropods. Cicada litterfall pulses influenced several broad groups in the macroarthropod community, including relatively specialized necrophilous taxa and relatively generalized detritivores, omnivores and predators. Conversely, detritivore activity increased the rate of cicada carcass decomposition by 4,082% compared to caged control carcasses. These results suggest that interactions between pulses of cicada detritus and the detritivore community influence both the persistence of ephemeral detrital resources, and the distribution, abundance and behavior of detritivore populations.

Effects of litter removal on arthropod communities in pine plantations

“…Disturbances that reduce the amount of basal resources entering forest ecosystems could lead to a decrease in the diversity or abundance of arthropods that process organic input (Seastedt and Crossley 1981;Yang 2006), thereby setting in motion a negative feedback cycle toward lower site productivity (Bengtsson et al 1997;Johnston and Crossley 2002;Liiri et al 2002a). Basal resource reduction such as litter removal could cause abrupt changes in trophic interactions, shifting the dominance of species and altering the functioning of ecosystem processes (Berg et al 1998).…”

Long-term resource addition to a detrital food web yields a pattern of responses more complex than pervasive bottom-up control

“…Such experiments in terrestrial ecosystems have been conducted in prairies and grasslands (Fountain et al, 2008; Hoekman et al, 2011; Oelbermann, Langel & Scheu, 2008; Patrick, Kershner & Fraser, 2012) and forests (Chen & Wise, 1999; David et al, 1991; Lessard et al, 2011; Maraun et al, 2001; Raub et al, 2014; Salamon et al, 2006; Scheu & Schaefer, 1998; Yang, 2006). Most experiments uncovered some evidence for bottom-up control, but the strength and pervasiveness across trophic levels of the responses varied substantially.…”

Could Fidicina mannifera (Hemiptera: Cicadoidea: Fidicinini) promote a resource pulse in two Brazilian Cerrado vegetation classes?

“…Efforts related to resource pulses have increased in the last decade (Peek and Forseth, 2003;Yang, 2005;Nowlin et al, 2008;Yang et al, 2008), which contributed to a better understanding of natural environments for two reasons: first, because the natural systems are influenced by some component of the pulse, and second, because these pulses provide opportunities to investigate many ecological interactions (Ostfeld and Keesing, 2000;Small et al, 2013;Yang, 2013).…”