Land use modulates the effects of climate change on density but not community composition of Collembola

TY - JOUR

T1 - Land use modulates the effects of climate change on density but not community composition of Collembola

AU - Yin, Rui

AU - Gruss, Iwona

AU - Eisenhauer, Nico

AU - Kardol, Paul

AU - Thakur, Madhav P.

AU - Schmidt, Anja

AU - Xu, Zhengfeng

AU - Siebert, Julia

AU - Zhang, Chensheng

AU - Wu, Gao-Lin

AU - Schädler, Martin

N1 - 6893, TE;

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - Collembola are highly abundant and diverse soil animals and play key roles in litter decomposition and nutrient cycling. Given their functional significance, it is important to understand their responses to human-induced global changes, such as climate change and land-use intensification. Here, we utilized an experimental field study, to test the interactive effects of climate (ambient vs. future) and land use (five land-use regimes, from extensively-used meadow to conventional farming) on three eco-morphological life forms of Collembola: epedaphic, hemiedaphic, and euedaphic species. We found that the effects of climate change on Collembola density were modulated by land use, and that the responses of different life forms to climate × land use interaction differed in magnitude and/or direction. The densities of total and hemiedaphic Collembola significantly decreased under organic farming and marginally increased in grasslands under future climatic conditions, whereas epedaphic Collembola tended to decrease their density with climate change in grasslands. In contrast, the density of euedaphic Collembola significantly increased with climate change in intensively-used grasslands. Further, we found that grasslands (especially extensively-used meadow) support the most abundant Collembola communities, with high species richness but low evenness. Multivariate analyses revealed independent effects of climate change and land-use intensification on Collembola community composition. Together, our findings indicate that the effects of climate change on Collembola communities depend on their life forms and land-use types. Surface-dwelling Collembola are more vulnerable to land use and climate change than those living in deeper soil layers. This may slow down the process of soil-surface litter decomposition in a changing world.

AB - Collembola are highly abundant and diverse soil animals and play key roles in litter decomposition and nutrient cycling. Given their functional significance, it is important to understand their responses to human-induced global changes, such as climate change and land-use intensification. Here, we utilized an experimental field study, to test the interactive effects of climate (ambient vs. future) and land use (five land-use regimes, from extensively-used meadow to conventional farming) on three eco-morphological life forms of Collembola: epedaphic, hemiedaphic, and euedaphic species. We found that the effects of climate change on Collembola density were modulated by land use, and that the responses of different life forms to climate × land use interaction differed in magnitude and/or direction. The densities of total and hemiedaphic Collembola significantly decreased under organic farming and marginally increased in grasslands under future climatic conditions, whereas epedaphic Collembola tended to decrease their density with climate change in grasslands. In contrast, the density of euedaphic Collembola significantly increased with climate change in intensively-used grasslands. Further, we found that grasslands (especially extensively-used meadow) support the most abundant Collembola communities, with high species richness but low evenness. Multivariate analyses revealed independent effects of climate change and land-use intensification on Collembola community composition. Together, our findings indicate that the effects of climate change on Collembola communities depend on their life forms and land-use types. Surface-dwelling Collembola are more vulnerable to land use and climate change than those living in deeper soil layers. This may slow down the process of soil-surface litter decomposition in a changing world.

KW - international

KW - Intensive land use

KW - Invertebrate decomposers

KW - Global change

KW - Life forms

KW - Soil biodiversity

KW - Future climate

U2 - 10.1016/j.soilbio.2019.107598

DO - 10.1016/j.soilbio.2019.107598

M3 - Article

SN - 0038-0717

VL - 138

JO - Soil Biology & Biochemistry

JF - Soil Biology & Biochemistry

M1 - 107598

ER -