Invasive plants induce the taxonomic and functional replacement of dune spiders

Gomes, Marisa; Carvalho, José C.; Gomes, Pedro T.

doi:10.1007/s10530-017-1555-5

Cited by 20 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Few studies have used trait‐based approaches to investigate the functional responses of terrestrial arthropod communities to biotic disturbances. Within the context of biological invasions, studies generally observed that invasive plants altered the functional structures of arthropod communities through effecting dietary and habitat shifts (Schirmel & Buchholz, ; Grass, Berens & Farwig, ; Gomes, Carvalho & Gomes, ). However, in contrast to the sweeping effects of abiotic disturbances such as fires and floods, which can wipe out existing arthropod assemblages and generate subsequent filtering of the new colonizers, the precise effects of plant invasions vary considerably with habitat, arthropod community, and ecological characteristics of the invader.…”

Section: Current Trait‐based Studies On Terrestrial Arthropodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, Gomes et al . () observed that invasions by Acacia longifolia on dunes mitigated the otherwise extreme environmental conditions, resulting in more functionally diverse spider communities, as xerophilic specialists were replaced by generalists possessing a wider variety of traits. We are not aware of trait‐based studies investigating the functional responses of terrestrial arthropod communities to closely related invaders of the same trophic level, although some studies have attempted to address these questions with community phylogenetics (e.g.…”

Section: Current Trait‐based Studies On Terrestrial Arthropodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Trait‐based ecology of terrestrial arthropods

2018

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In focusing on how organisms' generalizable functional properties (traits) interact mechanistically with environments across spatial scales and levels of biological organization, trait-based approaches provide a powerful framework for attaining synthesis, generality and prediction. Trait-based research has considerably improved understanding of the assembly, structure and functioning of plant communities. Further advances in ecology may be achieved by exploring the trait-environment relationships of non-sessile, heterotrophic organisms such as terrestrial arthropods, which are geographically ubiquitous, ecologically diverse, and often important functional components of ecosystems. Trait-based studies and trait databases have recently been compiled for groups such as ants, bees, beetles, butterflies, spiders and many others; however, the explicit justification, conceptual framework, and primary-evidence base for the burgeoning field of 'terrestrial arthropod trait-based ecology' have not been well established. Consequently, there is some confusion over the scope and relevance of this field, as well as a tendency for studies to overlook important assumptions of the trait-based approach. Here we aim to provide a broad and accessible overview of the trait-based ecology of terrestrial arthropods. We first define and illustrate foundational concepts in trait-based ecology with respect to terrestrial arthropods, and justify the application of trait-based approaches to the study of their ecology. Next, we review studies in community ecology where trait-based approaches have been used to elucidate how assembly processes for terrestrial arthropod communities are influenced by niche filtering along environmental gradients (e.g. climatic, structural, and land-use gradients) and by abiotic and biotic disturbances (e.g. fire, floods, and biological invasions). We also review studies in ecosystem ecology where trait-based approaches have been used to investigate biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships: how the functional diversity of arthropod communities relates to a host of ecosystem functions and services that they mediate, such as decomposition, pollination and predation. We then suggest how future work can address fundamental assumptions and limitations by investigating trait functionality and the effects of intraspecific variation, assessing the potential for sampling methods to bias the traits and trait values observed, and enhancing the quality and consolidation of trait information in databases. A roadmap to guide observational trait-based studies is also presented. Lastly, we highlight new areas where trait-based studies on terrestrial arthropods are well positioned to advance ecological understanding and application. These include examining the roles of competitive, non-competitive and (multi-)trophic interactions in shaping coexistence, and macro-scaling trait-environment relationships to explain and predict patterns in biodiversity and ecosystem functions across space and time. We hope this review will spur a...

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Section: Current Trait‐based Studies On Terrestrial Arthropodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Current Trait‐based Studies On Terrestrial Arthropodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trait‐based ecology of terrestrial arthropods

2018

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“…A high density of invasive plants changes the physical properties of a habitat by altering its structure, including its microclimatic conditions, such as the light intensity and temperature of the invaded area (Carter et al ., ). These changes may lead to changes in ecosystem functioning (Schirmel & Buchholz, ; Gomes et al ., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Forest type interacts with milkweed invasion to affect spider communities

Ingle

Gallé‐Szpisjak

Kaur

et al. 2019

Insect Conserv Diversity

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Non‐native tree plantations constitute a large part of forestation worldwide. Plantations are prone to invasion by exotic herbaceous plant species due to habitat properties, including understory vegetation structure. We established 40 sampling sites in 10 plantation forests. Sites were selected according to tree species (native poplar forests and exotic pine plantations) and common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) density (invaded and non‐invaded sites) in a full factorial design. We collected spiders with pitfall traps. We found a significant effect of A. syriaca invasion on spider functional diversity (Rao's quadratic entropy), with invaded sites having a lower functional diversity than non‐invaded sites. A larger effect of invasion with A. syriaca on the RaoQ of spiders was observed in pine compared to poplar plantations. Spider species were larger, and web‐building spiders were more frequent in poplar forests than in pine plantations. We found no effect of A. syriaca invasion on species richness or abundance of spiders. Species composition of spider assemblages in the two forest types was clearly separated according to non‐metric multidimensional scaling. We identified seven species associated with pine plantations and six species associated with poplar plantations. The similar species richness and the higher functional diversity of non‐invaded sites suggested that these trait states were less similar than invaded sites and that functionally different species were present. In contrast, the invaded sites had lower functional diversities and thus more uniform trait state compositions, suggesting that environmental filtering played an important role in species sorting, making invaded plantations low‐quality secondary habitats for the original spider fauna.

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“…Some authors have reported that non-native plants may induce strong negative effects on primary (McCary et al 2016) and secondary consumers (Langellotto and Denno 2004;Scherber et al 2010). Notwithstanding these findings, other authors have reported that predators may benefit from plant invasions (Gomes et al 2018). For pollinators, effects vary, depending on the studied species (Davis et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biogeographical comparison of terrestrial invertebrates and trophic feeding guilds in the native and invasive ranges of Carpobrotus edulis

Rodríguez¹,

Novoa²,

Cordero‐Rivera³

et al. 2020

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Plant invasions impact on biodiversity by altering the composition of native communities by disrupting taxonomic and functional diversity. Non-native plants are often released from their natural enemies, which might result in a reduction of the attack of primary consumers. However, they can also be exposed to the attack of new herbivores that they might not be able to tolerate. Hence, invertebrate communities can be influenced by invasive non-native plants, which in turn modify interactions and change environmental conditions. In this study, we examined the compositional and trophic diversity of invertebrate species, comparing ecosystems with and without the plant species Carpobrotus edulis in coastal areas in its native (South Africa) and introduced (Iberian Peninsula) ranges. Results show that C. edulis has a clear impact on invertebrate communities in its non-native range, reducing their abundance in invaded areas, and particularly affecting certain trophic groups. Invasive C. edulis also alters the invertebrate diversity by not only reducing abundance but also by altering species composition. Overall, the physical dominance of C. edulis modifies the co-occurrence of invertebrate assemblages, reducing the number of trophic groups and leading to substantial effects on primary consumers. Results suggest that the lack of natural enemies might be an important driver of the expansion of C. edulis in its introduced range. Further work is needed to examine long-term changes caused by non-native plants on invertebrate assemblages and the subsequent modification of biological interactions.

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Invasive plants induce the taxonomic and functional replacement of dune spiders

Cited by 20 publications

References 54 publications

Trait‐based ecology of terrestrial arthropods

Trait‐based ecology of terrestrial arthropods

Forest type interacts with milkweed invasion to affect spider communities

Biogeographical comparison of terrestrial invertebrates and trophic feeding guilds in the native and invasive ranges of Carpobrotus edulis

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