It’s the End of the Wood as We Know It: Insects in Veteris (Highly Decomposed) Wood

Ferro, Michael L.

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-75937-1_22

Cited by 12 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 202 publications

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“…Since the concentration of secondary metabolites related to plant defence is highest right after tree death and decreases over time, it has been suggested that the degree of host specialization in saproxylic insect communities decreases with ongoing succession (Ulyshen & Hanula, 2010). This process should lead to biotic homogenisation over time, exhibited by decreasing spatial beta-diversity, as measured by the dissimilarity in species composition between saproxylic beetle communities of different tree species at any specific point in time (Ferro, 2018). The trait database for saproxylic beetles from Northern Europe supports this hypothesis since species with a higher degree of specialization dominate during early stages of decay, while host tree generalists prefer more the later stages of decay (Stokland et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drivers of community assembly change during succession in wood-decomposing insect communities

Seibold¹,

Weisser²,

Ambarlı³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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1.The patterns of successional change of decomposer communities is unique in that resource availability predictably decreases as decomposition proceeds. Saproxylic (i.e., deadwood-dependent) beetles are a highly diverse and functionally important decomposer group, and their community composition is affected by both deadwood characteristics and other environmental factors. Understanding how communities change along faunal succession is important as this process influences terrestrial carbon dynamics.2.Here, we evaluate how beta-diversity of saproxylic beetle communities change with succession, as well as the effects of different major drivers of beta-diversity, such as deadwood tree species, spatial distance between locations and forest structure. 3.We studied spatial beta-diversity (i.e., dissimilarity of species composition between deadwood logs in the same year) of saproxylic beetle communities over eight years of wood decomposition. Our study included 379 experimental deadwood logs comprising 13 different tree species in 30 forest stands in Germany with differences in forest structure that is influenced by management regimes. We hypothesized that the effect of tree species dissimilarity, measured by phylogenetic distance, on spatial beta-diversity decreases over time, while the effects of spatial distance between logs (1m to ~600km) and differences in forest structure increase. 4.Spatial beta-diversity of saproxylic beetle communities was high throughout the first eight years of succession and even increased slightly over time except when focusing on dominant species (i.e., q = 2 in the Hill number calculation). Beta-diversity increased with increasing phylogenetic distance between tree species, spatial distance, and differences in forest structure. While effects of space and forest structure were constant over time, the effect of phylogenetic distance decreased over time. 5.Our results show that the strength of the different drivers of saproxylic beetle community beta-diversity changes along deadwood succession. Beta-diversity of early decay communities was strongly associated with differences between tree species. Although this effect decreased over time, beta-diversity remained high throughout succession. Possible explanations for this pattern include differences in decomposition rates and fungal communities between logs or the priority effect of early successional communities. Our results suggest that saproxylic beetle diversity can be promoted by high diversity in tree species and forest structural characteristics.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drivers of community assembly change during succession in wood-decomposing insect communities

Seibold¹,

Weisser²,

Ambarlı³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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“…For pleasing lacewing larvae, a life style in wood galleries of other holometabolan larvae 20 , 58 , 71 and soil 58 , 72 was inferred. Beaded lacewing larvae live in termite nests, mantis lacewings larvae in egg sacs of spiders or in nests of eusocial hymenopterans (wasps, bees 73 , their p. 103).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

100 Million-year-old straight-jawed lacewing larvae with enormously inflated trunks represent the oldest cases of extreme physogastry in insects

Haug

2022

Sci Rep

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Physogastry is a phenomenon occurring in Euarthropoda and describes an extreme inflation of (parts of) the trunk. It is best known from ticks, termite queens, or honey-pot ants, but can also be found in several other representatives of Euarthropoda. Physogastry has so far rarely been seen in the fossil record. We describe here an example of physogastry in two lacewing larvae (Neuroptera) enclosed in a single piece of Kachin amber (ca. 100 Ma old). We measured head and trunk ratios of different physogastric and non-physogastric representatives of Euarthropoda. Plotting these ratios shows that the new larvae, which display quite extremely inflated trunks, are very similar to ticks or honey-pot ants, but also to certain lacewing larvae of the group Berothidae (beaded lacewings). Outline analysis of head capsule and mouthparts (stylets) further suggests a position within Berothidae. Physogastry is presumed to be linked with living in confined spaces such as wood galleries or soil. Indeed, at least some larvae of Berothidae are known to live inside termite nests for part of their larval life phase, a habit the new larvae may also have had. The new record represents the oldest case of extreme physogastry in insects known to date.

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“…It might thus still have been active at the time of sampling or emerged shortly before. The other detected arthropod species (Collembola and Chilopoda) can be found in many different habitats, but typically are found in the litter layer (Ferro, 2018). They might have entered the mesocosms the same way as did Chamaedrilus chlorophilus , the detected annelid species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lost in dead wood? Environmental DNA sequencing from dead wood shows little signs of saproxylic beetles

et al. 2022

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Metabarcoding of environmental DNA (eDNA) has advanced many opportunities to assess biodiversity. Surveys are based on the genetic identification of taxa and rely on the fact that animals leave DNA traces in their habitat (Taberlet et al., 2012). By sampling the substrate, the targeted taxa can be identified without harming the organisms, and often by minimizing habitat disturbances, which is especially desirable when addressing conservation questions (Barnes & Turner, 2016). Moreover, metabarcoding can support, complement, or even replace traditional sampling methods (Deiner et al., 2017), and is particularly useful for cryptic taxa or where sampling approaches exceed available resources (Biggs et al., 2015). However, although eDNA metabarcoding has been commonly applied in aquatic systems by sampling water, its application in terrestrial ecosystems is only evolving recently (but see Cristescu & Hebert, 2018).In forest ecosystems, dead wood harbors a large number of species, especially fungi, bacteria, and insects (Stokland et al., 2012).

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It’s the End of the Wood as We Know It: Insects in Veteris (Highly Decomposed) Wood

Cited by 12 publications

References 202 publications

Drivers of community assembly change during succession in wood-decomposing insect communities

Drivers of community assembly change during succession in wood-decomposing insect communities

100 Million-year-old straight-jawed lacewing larvae with enormously inflated trunks represent the oldest cases of extreme physogastry in insects

Lost in dead wood? Environmental DNA sequencing from dead wood shows little signs of saproxylic beetles

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