Preliminary patterns of seasonal changes in species composition of surface‐active arthropods in a South African savannah

Mavasa, Risuna; Yekwayo, Inam; Mwabvu, Tarombera; Tsvuura, Zivanai

doi:10.1111/aec.13213

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…While species richness and abundance of Orthopterans and spiders showed no significant difference between seasons, species richness of beetles and ants was higher in the wet than in the dry season. These results are partially similar to those of Mavasa et al (2022) where similarly the species richness of beetles was greater in the wet season but contrarily, in Mavasa et al (2022), the species richness and abundance of ants showed no significant difference between seasons.…”

Section: Species Richness and Abundance Of Ground-dwelling Arthropods...supporting

confidence: 86%

“…This means there is an increase in the density of arthropods in an ecosystem. In addition, predatory arthropods benefit from the high density of other arthropods of smaller size due to a high number of prey (Mavasa et al 2022).…”

Section: Seasonal Change Influences Resource Availabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…given their high surface-to-volume ratio. However, the response of arthropods to environmental changes may differ among arthropod groups, depending on the intensity and type of environmental change (Uhey et al 2020, Mavasa et al 2022.…”

Section: Seasonal Change Influences Resource Availabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Community diversity and composition of ground-dwelling arthropods in major habitat types of the KwaZulu-Natal Sandstone Sourveld.

Mhlongo

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Grasslands constitute over 25% of the global land surface and close to one-third of southern Africa. Natural and semi-natural grasslands are recognized globally for their high biodiversity value and their important contribution to the provision of ecosystem services, including provisioning services such as carbon sequestration, water catchments, and grazing for livestock and wildlife. Nonetheless, grasslands are consistently reduced and threatened by anthropogenic activities and invasive alien plants. Invasive alien plants may hinder the growth of natural vegetation by overconsumption of resources. The impact of invasive alien plants on natural vegetation may indirectly affect plant-to-animal interactions such as specialized pollination and seed dispersal syndromes which may ultimately disturb ecosystem processes. The Sandstone Sourveld in KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa is a threatened grassland ecosystem as a result of various anthropogenic disturbances. Knowledge of arthropod response to differences in habitat types may be essential for an improved understanding of the structure and functioning of ecosystems, which is relevant for informing conservation practice. The aim of this study was to investigate the composition and diversity patterns of ground-dwelling arthropods (ants, beetles, Orthopterans, and spiders) in three habitat types (forest, intact grassland, and disturbed grassland) at Springside and Tanglewood Nature Reserves, which occur in the KwaZulu-Natal Sandstone Sourveld (KZNSS). The objectives were: (i) to document the response of the ground-dwelling arthropod community in different habitat types, (ii) to determine the impacts of seasonal change on the abundance and richness of ground-dwelling arthropods at the two sites, and (iii) to determine the correlation between the distribution of ground-dwelling arthropods and soil characteristics in the KZNSS. Ground-dwelling arthropods were sampled in Springside and Tanglewood Nature Reserves using pitfall traps in each habitat type. Soil parameters in the habitats were also assessed. Analysis of variance was used to test for differences in arthropod morphospecies richness and abundance across the habitat types and between seasons. The Shannon-Weiner diversity index was computed and used to compare the diversity of ground-dwelling arthropods between the two sites and among habitat types. Ground-dwelling arthropods showed varying patterns in response to habitat characteristics and the disturbance gradient at Springside and Tanglewood. Intact grassland was the most diverse habitat in both Springside and Tanglewood. In Tanglewood, the abundance of ants was greater in disturbed grassland which consisted of a variety of alien invasive shrubs, the high abundance was explained by the “intermediate disturbance hypothesis”. However, alien invasion showed more negative than positive impacts on the abundance and composition of ground-dwelling arthropods when there was a significant decrease in the abundance and composition of ants, beetles and spiders. Species richness of ants and beetles was higher in the wet than dry season whereas Orthopterans and spiders showed no significant difference between seasons. In all arthropod groups, a greater number of species were correlated to soil potassium, soil pH, and soil bulk density. Overall, the intact grassland had the highest species richness and abundance followed by the forest and lastly the disturbed grassland. The greater abundance of ants, beetles, and spiders in the pristine grasslands of KZNSS shows that there is still a need to conserve the remnants of the KZNSS vegetation. Therefore, the conservancy management is urged to consider the eradication of alien invasive plants. Future studies are recommended to consider the volant and vegetation canopy arthropods as they are all interdependent with ground-dwelling arthropods to form a whole community of arthropods in an ecosystem.

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Section: Species Richness and Abundance Of Ground-dwelling Arthropods...supporting

confidence: 86%

Section: Seasonal Change Influences Resource Availabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Community diversity and composition of ground-dwelling arthropods in major habitat types of the KwaZulu-Natal Sandstone Sourveld.

Mhlongo

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“…Given that arthropods are known to be active mostly during the warmer months (Mavasa et al 2022) and have been reported to correlate positively with precipitation (Uhey et al 2020), we sampled in October 2021. Since the study was focused on surface-active arthropods, the pitfall trapping method was used.…”

Section: Collection and Identification Of Surface-active Arthropodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of distance from crushed stone mining on surface-active arthropods and soil properties

Yekwayo,

Mngeni

2023

Bothalia ABC

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Background: Mining of crushed stone for use in construction is among the various anthropogenic activities in the Eastern Cape province in South Africa that alter natural landscapes. However, little is known about the impact of these activities on arthropods and soil chemical properties. Objectives: We investigated the effect of distance (5, 30, 50 and 70 metres) from the mining sites on species richness, abundance and composition of surface-active arthropods, as well as composition and concentration of soil chemical properties (soil pH, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and zinc). Methods: The study was conducted at two mining sites in Nyandeni Local Municipality within the O.R. Tambo District Municipality that were commissioned in 2014. Arthropods were sampled using pitfall traps and thereafter sorted into morphospecies, while an auger was used to collect soil samples. Permutational multivariate analysis was used to compare the composition of the arthropods and soil chemical properties among distances from the mining activities, while arthropod species richness and abundance, as well as concentrations of soil chemical properties, were analysed using the one-way analysis of variance or Kruskal-Wallis test. Results: Arthropod species richness, abundance and composition were not influenced by distance from mining activities. Although among soil chemical properties, mining activities altered the concentration of zinc only, we found dissimilarities in soil composition between the sampling point at the edge of the mining activities and sampling points that were away from the mining sites. Conclusion: We found no evidence of the impact of crushed stone mining on surface-active arthropods; however, our study revealed a negative impact of crushed stone mining on soil chemical properties.

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“…Since climate and sampling time (i.e., season) does not affect the abundance and richness of arthropods sampled at the savanna and grasslands of sub-Saharan Africa [64,65], plant diversity, stocking rates and grazing intensities could be associated with the varying response of arthropods at different exclosures of KNP [8,10,23,26,33,46,47,[65][66][67]. Therefore, mammal activity and heterogeneity of plants needs to be understood and correlated with assemblages of arthropods to ascertain the direct and indirect impact of mammal grazing on the abundance, species richness and composition of arthropods at KNP.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term mammal herbivory on arthropod assemblages at Kruger National Park, South Africa

2023

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Protected savannas are essential reserves for biological diversity, including endangered arthropod species, however, extreme grazing by mammals has cascading impacts on the communities and disrupts the functioning of these ecosystems globally. The current study assessed the abundance, species richness and composition of arthropods at the long-term grazing exclosures of Kruger National Park, South Africa. Pitfall traps and active searches were used to sample arthropods at the ungrazed, moderately, and heavily grazed exclosures. We found that Hymenoptera, Coleoptera, Diptera and Araneae were the most abundant orders of arthropods sampled. The abundance of multi-taxon, Diptera and Hymenoptera was significantly different between exclosures. In contrast, Coleoptera had high numbers of morphospecies compared to Hymenoptera, Araneae and Diptera. Species richness for multi-taxon, Diptera and Hymenoptera was significantly high at the heavily grazed compared to moderately grazed and ungrazed exclosures. Up to 22.2%, 41.2%, and 44.4% of the morphospecies were unique to the ungrazed, moderately and heavily grazed exclosures, respectively. A high proportion of morphospecies shared between exclosures were Coleoptera (41.0%) and Hymenoptera (38.5%) compared to Diptera and Araneae with less than 5% recorded across exclosures. Thus, morphospecies within the least abundant orders, namely Diptera and Araneae, were represented by singletons that were unique to particular exclosures compared to the most abundant arthropod orders (e.g., Coleoptera and Hymenoptera). We conclude that long-term mammal grazing enhances species richness and niche composition together with sparse and unique arthropods in the protected savannas. Therefore, managed grazing regimes can serve as a tool for maintaining the integrity of the protected savannas.

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Preliminary patterns of seasonal changes in species composition of surface‐active arthropods in a South African savannah

Cited by 5 publications

References 60 publications

Community diversity and composition of ground-dwelling arthropods in major habitat types of the KwaZulu-Natal Sandstone Sourveld.

Community diversity and composition of ground-dwelling arthropods in major habitat types of the KwaZulu-Natal Sandstone Sourveld.

The influence of distance from crushed stone mining on surface-active arthropods and soil properties

Long-term mammal herbivory on arthropod assemblages at Kruger National Park, South Africa

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