Nonlinear effects of environmental drivers shape macroinvertebrate biodiversity in an agricultural pondscape

Camille L. Musseau, Gabriela Onandia, Jana Petermann, Alban Sagouis, Gunnar Lischeid, Jonathan M. Jeschke

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftArtikelPeer-reviewed

Abstract

Agriculture is a leading cause of biodiversity loss and significantly impacts freshwater biodiversity through many stressors acting locally and on the landscape scale. The individual effects of these numerous stressors are often difficult to disentangle and quantify, as they might have nonlinear impacts on biodiversity. Within agroecosystems, ponds are biodiversity hotspots providing habitat for many freshwater species and resting or feeding places for terrestrial organisms. Ponds are strongly influenced by their terrestrial surroundings, and understanding the determinants of biodiversity in agricultural landscapes remains difficult but crucial for improving conservation policies and actions. We aimed to identify the main effects of environmental and spatial variables on α-, β-, and γ-diversities of macroinvertebrate communities inhabiting ponds (n = 42) in an agricultural landscape in the Northeast Germany, and to quantify the respective roles of taxonomic turnover and nestedness in the pondscape. We disentangled the nonlinear effects of a wide range of environmental and spatial variables on macroinvertebrate α- and β-biodiversity. Our results show that α-diversity is impaired by eutrophication (phosphate and nitrogen) and that overshaded ponds support impoverished macroinvertebrate biota. The share of arable land in the ponds' surroundings decreases β-diversity (i.e., dissimilarity in community), while β-diversity is higher in shallower ponds. Moreover, we found that β-diversity is mainly driven by taxonomic turnover and that ponds embedded in arable fields support local and regional diversity. Our findings highlight the importance of such ponds for supporting biodiversity, identify the main stressors related to human activities (eutrophication), and emphasize the need for a large number of ponds in the landscape to conserve biodiversity. Small freshwater systems in agricultural landscapes challenge us to compromise between human demands and nature conservation worldwide. Identifying and quantifying the effects of environmental variables on biodiversity inhabiting those ecosystems can help address threats impacting freshwater life with more effective management of pondscapes.
OriginalspracheEnglisch
Aufsatznummere9458
FachzeitschriftEcology and Evolution
Jahrgang12
Ausgabenummer11
DOIs
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - 8 Nov. 2022

Bibliographische Notiz

Funding Information:
We are grateful to the ZALF's Experimental Infrastructure Platform, Gernot Verch and to the responsible persons of the AgroScapeLabs platform. We warmly thank Carlos Acame for his help crucial help, Maria Geesdorf, Thomas Kalettka for sharing his knowledge on the Uckermark pondscape, Marlene Pätzig, the Förderverein Feldberg‐Uckermärkische Seenlandschaft e.V., and Jens Rolff for providing access to lab facilities. This work is part of the collaborative project “Bridging in Biodiversity Science—BIBS”, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research BMBF (funding number 01LC1501). We thank our colleagues: Danny Ionescu, Mina Bižić, Rajat Karnatak, Stella A. Berger, Mark O. Gessner, Hans‐Peter Grossart, Jens C. Nejstgaard, and Sabine Wollrab, as well as two anonymous reviewers for valuable comments on a previous version of the article. All the responsibility for the content of this publication is assumed by the authors. Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.

Funding Information:
We are grateful to the ZALF's Experimental Infrastructure Platform, Gernot Verch and to the responsible persons of the AgroScapeLabs platform. We warmly thank Carlos Acame for his help crucial help, Maria Geesdorf, Thomas Kalettka for sharing his knowledge on the Uckermark pondscape, Marlene Pätzig, the Förderverein Feldberg-Uckermärkische Seenlandschaft e.V., and Jens Rolff for providing access to lab facilities. This work is part of the collaborative project “Bridging in Biodiversity Science—BIBS”, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research BMBF (funding number 01LC1501). We thank our colleagues: Danny Ionescu, Mina Bižić, Rajat Karnatak, Stella A. Berger, Mark O. Gessner, Hans-Peter Grossart, Jens C. Nejstgaard, and Sabine Wollrab, as well as two anonymous reviewers for valuable comments on a previous version of the article. All the responsibility for the content of this publication is assumed by the authors. Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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  • 106 Biologie

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