Acta Oecologica

As a group amphibians are the vertebrates most affected by anthropic activity, particularly by agriculture. The rapid advance of the agricultural frontier makes it important to identify the role of agroecosystems as habitat supply for amphibians. We analyzed the differences in amphibian assemblages and populations between habitats with different plant covers and different degrees of human intervention in northwestern Argentina. For three years we conducted 114 high frequency trap samplings to quantify abundance, specific composition and species richness of amphibian assemblages in three habitat types (lemon and sugarcane crops and secondary forest) of a piedmont agroecosystem of Tucumán province. Crops hosted more species and individuals than secondary forests, but the specific composition of forest was different from that of crops suggesting that they could be complementary. Although the assemblage abundance of every observation responded to climate, the strong effect of sampling year was not related to climatic factors suggesting that there might be long term fluctuations that were not analyzed. We also found that responses to agricultural practices were species specific, so no generalizations about these practices should be done. Our study shows that cultivated areas are not hostile environments for amphibians since they can lodge huge amphibian populations and that the occurrence of disturbances associated to agricultural practices is not necessarily reflected in a decrease in the abundance and richness of amphibians in the short term. However, our results also show that forested lands are necessary to lodge some specialist species which are very rare in the croplands. This suggests that environmental heterogeneity generated by the combination of natural and cultivated patches can increase biodiversity at landscape scale because this allows the coexistence of species related to either kind of environment.

Cecilia Guerra

Ezequiel Aráoz

Amphibian diversity increases in an heterogeneous agricultural landscape

异质农业景观中两栖动物多样性增加

Scripus mariqueter is a native endangered plant species with both sexual and asexual reproduction in a coastal salt marsh wetland, eastern China. Understanding the patterns of growth and reproduction of S. mariqueter populations in different tidal flats and the main driving factors is necessary and urgent for the effective restoration of this species. The characteristics of growth and reproduction of S. mariqueter populations were investigated in the seaward, middle and landward habitats along the north, east and south directions of the Dongtan salt marsh wetland. Results showed that when individually and comprehensively analyzing the effect of soil physicochemical properties on the differentiation patterns of the growth and reproduction, based on the pairwise index analysis, SEM (structural equation model) and PCA (principal component analysis), soil salinity was the most important driving factor, and comprehensive factor (Y) played a major role than tidal levels and directions. Soil physicochemical factors independently explained 61.63% of the growth-reproduction variation, in which soil salinity explained 13.78% and the comprehensive factor explained 69.20%. Correlation between sexual and asexual reproduction was negative in series habitats in the north direction, and positive in series habitats in the east and south direction, where soil physicochemical properties in the series habitats in the south direction was relatively unfavorable or stressful than those in the east and north direction in term of sexual reproduction. Our results provided a theoretical and practical basis for the sustainable conservation and restoration of S. mariqueter population, which may further help enhance its ecological functions in protecting beaches, reducing waves, facilitating siltation and maintaining biodiversity in the coastal salt marsh wetland, eastern China.

Lingling Li

Dezhi Li

Rongpei Kong

Zixing Ren

Lu Liu

Yingyang Zhu

Yuming Sun

Nana Peng

Jing He

Yangqing Ji

Xiao Wang

Ying Wang

Jing Chen

Strategies in growth and reproduction of the native endangered plant species Scripus mariqueter and the driving factors in a coastal salt marsh wetland, eastern China

中国东部沿海盐沼湿地濒危植物海三棱藨草生长与繁殖策略及其驱动因素

The decline in species diversity within nutrient-enriched grasslands is commonly explained by a single hypothesis that often overlooks the potential interconnected roles of soil nutrients, light, and plant productivity. In a 2-year field experiment involving multiple nutrient additions (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium; NPK) conducted in an alpine meadow on the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, we investigated the simultaneous impact of three driving factors (soil nutrients, litter, and light) on species loss. Our findings show that the reduction in species richness can be attributed to belowground soil nutrient enrichment and aboveground light asymmetry. Specifically, the increase in soil nutrients following NPK addition directly contributed to the decline in species richness. Light limitation associated with an increase in the aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) indirectly accelerates competitive exclusion, leading to species loss. The increased ANPP was primarily influenced by the greater proportion of the grass species Elymus nutans in the NPK-fertilized plots, highlighting the significant role of dominant species in restricting light availability. Contrary to expectations, our results did not support the negative impact of litter on species richness. In summary, our findings indicate that interspecies competition for soil nutrients and light availability are the two primary drivers of species loss in alpine meadow communities. This insight has crucial implications for understanding the effects of nutrient enrichment on biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and services in alpine meadows on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Zhengwei Ren

Wei Zhao

Shaohao Bang

Xiaolong Zhou

Defei Liang

Wanwan Yao

The role of nutrients, light, and litter in species loss in an alpine meadow community

高山草甸群落中物种丧失的营养、光照和凋落物的作用

Many plant functional traits exhibit variations along spatial gradients, and exploring such geographical variations is of great reference value for understanding the evolutionary process of plant distribution and response mechanisms to biotic and abiotic factors. Fruit type (fleshy vs. dry fruits), a key reproductive characteristic of plants, plays an important role in seed dispersal processes. Environmental factors, plant growth form, and phylogeny are the most frequently discussed factors that explain the geographical patterns of fruit type. Disentangling the relative contribution of each factor is challenging, and previous studies have not been consistent. In the present study, we compiled a dataset of 2668 plant species from 22 ecological research stations of the Chinese Ecosystem Research Network, including diverse ecosystems across 26° latitude. The pattern of fruit type divergence (i.e., flesh vs. dry fruits) was primarily explained by phylogeny (partial R2lik = 65.60%), whereas growth form and environmental factors revealed little variation. Interestingly, the relative contribution of phylogeny in explaining fruit-type divergence was larger in the flora at low latitudes than that at high latitudes. Temperature variables, particularly low-temperature variables, were correlated with partial R2lik, with the results revealing that the higher the temperature, the stronger the explanatory degree of phylogeny. Our findings provide a detailed explanation for the ecological and evolutionary patterns underlying the divergence of fruit types, shedding light on understanding the geographic distribution of fruit types.

Yingqun Feng

Bo Wang

Relative contribution of phylogeny on fruit type divergence decreases along latitudinal gradients

纬度梯度下果型分化的系统发育相对贡献率下降

Sherman Chen

Vainberg Noy

Doniger Tirza

Steinberger Yosef

The effect of desert annual plant decomposition on soil microbial community

沙漠一年生植物分解对土壤微生物群落的影响

Tania Chatterjee

Souparna Chakrabarty

Bulganin Mitra

Punarbasu Chaudhuri

Unveiling the association of mangrove flowering phenology on the dynamics of insect abundance

揭示红树林开花物候与昆虫丰度动态的关联

Gabriel Augusto Silva Vaz

Marconi Souza-Silva

Alicia Helena Souza Rodrigues Ferreira

Rodrigo Lopes Ferreira

Exploring the factors shaping the invertebrate community and habitat selection in a new Hotspot of Subterranean Biodiversity in South America

探索南美洲新地下生物多样性热点中无脊椎动物群落和栖息地选择的形成因素

K. Tan

R.A. Ines

C.M. Buono

Q. Evans

T.H.Q. Powell

K.M. Prior

Differences in foraging phenology dampen the impact of an invasive slug on ant-mediated seed dispersal of understory forest plants

觅食物候差异减弱入侵蛞蝓对林下植物种子蚂蚁介导传播的影响

Kanata Sakaya Inoue

Kohei Nakatsuji

Satoshi Koyama

Yuta Kobayashi

Tomohiro Yoshida

Ant utilization of tree trunks in relation to environmental factors in a temperate forest

温带森林中蚂蚁对树干的利用与环境因素的关系

Abbreviation
Journal Impact	1.26
Quartiles(Global)	ECOLOGY(Q3)

ISSN	1146-609X, 1873-6238
h-index	81

Publication Information	Publisher: Elsevier B.V.，Publishing cycle: Bimonthly，Journal Type: journal，Open Access Journals: No
Basic data	Year of publication: 1990，Proportion of original research papers: 100.00%，Self Citation Rate:0.00%， Gold OA Rate: 13.50%
Average review cycle	网友分享经验：>0周，或约稿
Average recruitment ratio	网友分享经验：约25%

Acta Oecologica

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Amphibian diversity increases in an heterogeneous agricultural landscape

Strategies in growth and reproduction of the native endangered plant species Scripus mariqueter and the driving factors in a coastal salt marsh wetland, eastern China

The role of nutrients, light, and litter in species loss in an alpine meadow community

Relative contribution of phylogeny on fruit type divergence decreases along latitudinal gradients

The effect of desert annual plant decomposition on soil microbial community

The effect of desert annual plant decomposition on soil microbial community

Unveiling the association of mangrove flowering phenology on the dynamics of insect abundance

Exploring the factors shaping the invertebrate community and habitat selection in a new Hotspot of Subterranean Biodiversity in South America

Differences in foraging phenology dampen the impact of an invasive slug on ant-mediated seed dispersal of understory forest plants

Ant utilization of tree trunks in relation to environmental factors in a temperate forest