Using datasets of different taxonomic detail to assess the influence of floodplain characteristics on terrestrial arthropod assemblages

Abstract

Four arthropod datasets of different taxonomic detail were compared on their discriminatory power for various environmental characteristics in a lowland floodplain area along the river Rhine. The arthropod datasets comprised ground-dwelling arthropods at class-order level (n = 10), beetle families (n = 32), ground beetle genera (n = 30) and ground beetle species (n = 68). Environmental characteristics included vegetation characteristics, hydro-topographic setting, physical-chemical soil properties and soil contamination levels. Relations between arthropod assemblages and environmental factors were assessed with variance partitioning: a multivariate statistical approach that attributes variation in community composition to specific explaining variables. The variance partitioning showed comparable results for the four datasets. A substantial part of the variation (31-38%) could be ascribed to vegetation characteristics. Variance could further be attributed to physical-chemical soil properties (7-10%), hydro-topographic setting (3-7%) and soil metal contamination (2-4%). Thus, in strongly heterogeneous landscapes like lowland river floodplains, relatively coarse taxonomic data can already provide a valuable indication of the relative importance of different environmental factors for structuring arthropod communities. However, the ground beetles showed a higher specificity for different vegetation types and a more distinct relation to soil contamination levels than the other arthropod datasets. Hence, a higher degree of taxonomic detail will be beneficial for investigating the consequences of for example environmental pollution or vegetation characteristics in terms of taxonomic diversity or community composition.

Higher taxa can be effective surrogates for species‐level data in detecting changes in invertebrate assemblage structure due to disturbance: a case study using a broad range of orders

“…; Schipper et al . ); although, Basset et al . () found poor discrimination at order level among sites along a disturbance gradient.…”

“…A criticism of the higher taxonomic surrogate approach is that it may aggregate species within the same genus or family that have different ecological or functional traits and show different responses to disturbance (Lenat & Resh ; Heino & Soininen ; Schipper et al . ) and consequently limit inferences about the mechanisms by which assemblages respond to change (Somerfield & Clarke ; Schipper et al . ; Bevilacqua et al .…”

“…; Schipper et al . ). Using one or two orders is of limited value if the purpose is to investigate biodiversity responses to disturbance; especially as studies have shown that invertebrate groups vary in their response to disturbance (Lovell et al .…”

La Suficiencia Taxonómica Como Herramienta Para El Monitoreo De Artrópodos Epígeos: Una Primera Aproximación en El Desierto Costero Peruano

“…En investigaciones recientes se ha observado que las variables ambientales (vegetación, edáficas, hídricas etc.) responsables de la distribución espacial de las comunidades de artrópodos epígeos tuvieron la misma jerarquía de importancia para diferentes resoluciones taxonómicas (Cotes et al, 2010;Schipper et al, 2010). En estos casos, el grado de heterogeneidad ambiental es tan marcado que no sólo sobrepasa la capacidad de tolerancia de las especies, sino también la tolerancia de los taxones de alto rango.…”

Floodplain ants show a stronger response to an extensive flood than to variations in fallen‐timber load

“…Arthropods are important to biodiversity because they constitute a large proportion of the taxa and are vital to many ecosystem processes (e.g. pollination and litter processing, Schipper et al 2010). Changes in their abundance and diversity resulting from forest management might have profound consequences for floodplain ecosystems (Kellert 1993).…”