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  1. Article ; Online: Global contribution of invertebrates to forest litter decomposition.

    Zeng, Xiaoyi / Gao, Huilin / Wang, Runxi / Majcher, Bartosz M / Woon, Joel S / Wenda, Cheng / Eggleton, Paul / Griffiths, Hannah M / Ashton, Louise A

    Ecology letters

    2024  Volume 27, Issue 4, Page(s) e14423

    Abstract: Forest litter decomposition is an essential component of global carbon and nutrient turnover. Invertebrates play important roles in litter decomposition, but the regional pattern of their effects is poorly understood. We examined 476 case studies across ... ...

    Abstract Forest litter decomposition is an essential component of global carbon and nutrient turnover. Invertebrates play important roles in litter decomposition, but the regional pattern of their effects is poorly understood. We examined 476 case studies across 93 sites and performed a meta-analysis to estimate regional effects of invertebrates on forest litter decomposition. We then assessed how invertebrate diversity, climate and soil pH drive regional variations in invertebrate-mediated decomposition. We found that (1) invertebrate contributions to litter decomposition are 1.4 times higher in tropical and subtropical forests than in forests elsewhere, with an overall contribution of 31% to global forest litter decomposition; and (2) termite diversity, together with warm, humid and acidic environments in the tropics and subtropics are positively associated with forest litter decomposition by invertebrates. Our results demonstrate the significant difference in invertebrate effects on mediating forest litter decomposition among regions. We demonstrate, also, the significance of termites in driving litter mass loss in the tropics and subtropics. These results are particularly pertinent in the tropics and subtropics where climate change and human disturbance threaten invertebrate biodiversity and the ecosystem services it provides.
    MeSH term(s) Animals ; Biodiversity ; Ecosystem ; Forests ; Invertebrates ; Plant Leaves ; Soil/chemistry
    Chemical Substances Soil
    Language English
    Publishing date 2024-04-08
    Publishing country England
    Document type Meta-Analysis ; Journal Article ; Review
    ZDB-ID 1441608-6
    ISSN 1461-0248 ; 1461-023X
    ISSN (online) 1461-0248
    ISSN 1461-023X
    DOI 10.1111/ele.14423
    Database MEDical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System OnLINE

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  2. Article: Termites have wider thermal limits to cope with environmental conditions in savannas

    Woon, Joel S. / Atkinson, David / Adu‐Bredu, Stephen / Eggleton, Paul / Parr, Catherine L.

    journal of animal ecology. 2022 Apr., v. 91, no. 4

    2022  

    Abstract: The most diverse and abundant family of termites, the Termitidae, evolved in African tropical forests. They have since colonised grassy biomes such as savannas. These open environments have more extreme conditions than tropical forests, notably wider ... ...

    Abstract The most diverse and abundant family of termites, the Termitidae, evolved in African tropical forests. They have since colonised grassy biomes such as savannas. These open environments have more extreme conditions than tropical forests, notably wider extremes of temperature and lower precipitation levels and greater temporal fluctuations (of both annual and diurnal variation). These conditions are challenging for soft‐bodied ectotherms, such as termites, to survive in, let alone become as ecologically dominant as termites have. Here, we quantified termite thermal limits to test the hypothesis that these physiological limits are wider in savanna termite species to facilitate their existence in savanna environments. We sampled termites directly from mound structures, across an environmental gradient in Ghana, ranging from wet tropical forest through to savanna. At each location, we quantified both the Critical Thermal Maxima (CTₘₐₓ) and the Critical Thermal Minima (CTₘᵢₙ) of all the most abundant mound‐building Termitidae species in the study areas. We modelled the thermal limits in two separate mixed‐effects models against canopy cover at the mound, temperature and rainfall, as fixed effects, with sampling location as a random intercept. For both CTₘₐₓ and CTₘᵢₙ, savanna species had significantly more extreme thermal limits than forest species. Between and within environments, areas with higher amounts of canopy cover were significantly associated with lower CTₘₐₓ values of the termite colonies. CTₘᵢₙ was significantly positively correlated with rainfall. Temperature was retained in both models; however, it did not have a significant relationship in either. Sampling location explained a large proportion of the residual variation, suggesting there are other environmental factors that could influence termite thermal limits. Our results suggest that savanna termite species have wider thermal limits than forest species. These physiological differences, in conjunction with other behavioural adaptations, are likely to have enabled termites to cope with the more extreme environmental conditions found in savanna environments and facilitated their expansion into open tropical environments.
    Keywords Termitidae ; animal ecology ; canopy ; diurnal variation ; ectothermy ; rain ; savannas ; temperature ; tropical rain forests ; Ghana
    Language English
    Dates of publication 2022-04
    Size p. 766-779.
    Publishing place John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
    Document type Article
    Note JOURNAL ARTICLE
    ZDB-ID 3024-7
    ISSN 1365-2656 ; 0021-8790
    ISSN (online) 1365-2656
    ISSN 0021-8790
    DOI 10.1111/1365-2656.13673
    Database NAL-Catalogue (AGRICOLA)

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  3. Article ; Online: Termites have wider thermal limits to cope with environmental conditions in savannas.

    Woon, Joel S / Atkinson, David / Adu-Bredu, Stephen / Eggleton, Paul / Parr, Catherine L

    The Journal of animal ecology

    2022  Volume 91, Issue 4, Page(s) 766–779

    Abstract: The most diverse and abundant family of termites, the Termitidae, evolved in African tropical forests. They have since colonised grassy biomes such as savannas. These open environments have more extreme conditions than tropical forests, notably wider ... ...

    Abstract The most diverse and abundant family of termites, the Termitidae, evolved in African tropical forests. They have since colonised grassy biomes such as savannas. These open environments have more extreme conditions than tropical forests, notably wider extremes of temperature and lower precipitation levels and greater temporal fluctuations (of both annual and diurnal variation). These conditions are challenging for soft-bodied ectotherms, such as termites, to survive in, let alone become as ecologically dominant as termites have. Here, we quantified termite thermal limits to test the hypothesis that these physiological limits are wider in savanna termite species to facilitate their existence in savanna environments. We sampled termites directly from mound structures, across an environmental gradient in Ghana, ranging from wet tropical forest through to savanna. At each location, we quantified both the Critical Thermal Maxima (CT
    MeSH term(s) Animals ; Ecosystem ; Forests ; Grassland ; Isoptera/physiology ; Temperature
    Language English
    Publishing date 2022-02-24
    Publishing country England
    Document type Journal Article ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
    ZDB-ID 3024-7
    ISSN 1365-2656 ; 0021-8790
    ISSN (online) 1365-2656
    ISSN 0021-8790
    DOI 10.1111/1365-2656.13673
    Database MEDical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System OnLINE

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  4. Article: Carbon flux and forest dynamics: Increased deadwood decomposition in tropical rainforest tree‐fall canopy gaps

    Griffiths, Hannah M / Eggleton, Paul / Hemming‐Schroeder, Nicole / Swinfield, Tom / Woon, Joel S / Allison, Steven D / Coomes, David A / Ashton, Louise A / Parr, Catherine L

    Global change biology. 2021 Apr., v. 27, no. 8

    2021  

    Abstract: Tree mortality rates are increasing within tropical rainforests as a result of global environmental change. When trees die, gaps are created in forest canopies and carbon is transferred from the living to deadwood pools. However, little is known about ... ...

    Abstract Tree mortality rates are increasing within tropical rainforests as a result of global environmental change. When trees die, gaps are created in forest canopies and carbon is transferred from the living to deadwood pools. However, little is known about the effect of tree‐fall canopy gaps on the activity of decomposer communities and the rate of deadwood decay in forests. This means that the accuracy of regional and global carbon budgets is uncertain, especially given ongoing changes to the structure of rainforest ecosystems. Therefore, to determine the effect of canopy openings on wood decay rates and regional carbon flux, we carried out the first assessment of deadwood mass loss within canopy gaps in old‐growth rainforest. We used replicated canopy gaps paired with closed canopy sites in combination with macroinvertebrate accessible and inaccessible woodblocks to experimentally partition the relative contribution of microbes vs. termites to decomposition within contrasting understorey conditions. We show that over a 12 month period, wood mass loss increased by 63% in canopy gaps compared with closed canopy sites and that this increase was driven by termites. Using LiDAR data to quantify the proportion of canopy openings in the study region, we modelled the effect of observed changes in decomposition within gaps on regional carbon flux. Overall, we estimate that this accelerated decomposition increases regional wood decay rate by up to 18.2%, corresponding to a flux increase of 0.27 Mg C ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ that is not currently accounted for in regional carbon budgets. These results provide the first insights into how small‐scale disturbances in rainforests can generate hotspots for decomposer activity and carbon fluxes. In doing so, we show that including canopy gap dynamics and their impacts on wood decomposition in forest ecosystems can help improve the predictive accuracy of the carbon cycle in land surface models.
    Keywords canopy gaps ; carbon ; carbon cycle ; dead wood ; decayed wood ; forest dynamics ; global change ; lidar ; macroinvertebrates ; tree mortality ; tropical rain forests ; understory
    Language English
    Dates of publication 2021-04
    Size p. 1601-1613.
    Publishing place John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
    Document type Article
    Note NAL-AP-2-clean ; JOURNAL ARTICLE
    ZDB-ID 1281439-8
    ISSN 1365-2486 ; 1354-1013
    ISSN (online) 1365-2486
    ISSN 1354-1013
    DOI 10.1111/gcb.15488
    Database NAL-Catalogue (AGRICOLA)

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  5. Article ; Online: Clarifying Terrestrial Recycling Pathways.

    Bishop, Tom R / Griffiths, Hannah M / Ashton, Louise A / Eggleton, Paul / Woon, Joel S / Parr, Catherine L

    Trends in ecology & evolution

    2020  Volume 36, Issue 1, Page(s) 9–11

    MeSH term(s) Ecosystem ; Environmental Monitoring
    Language English
    Publishing date 2020-10-01
    Publishing country England
    Document type Letter ; Comment
    ZDB-ID 284965-3
    ISSN 1872-8383 ; 0169-5347
    ISSN (online) 1872-8383
    ISSN 0169-5347
    DOI 10.1016/j.tree.2020.09.005
    Database MEDical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System OnLINE

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  6. Article ; Online: Carbon flux and forest dynamics: Increased deadwood decomposition in tropical rainforest tree-fall canopy gaps.

    Griffiths, Hannah M / Eggleton, Paul / Hemming-Schroeder, Nicole / Swinfield, Tom / Woon, Joel S / Allison, Steven D / Coomes, David A / Ashton, Louise A / Parr, Catherine L

    Global change biology

    2021  Volume 27, Issue 8, Page(s) 1601–1613

    Abstract: Tree mortality rates are increasing within tropical rainforests as a result of global environmental change. When trees die, gaps are created in forest canopies and carbon is transferred from the living to deadwood pools. However, little is known about ... ...

    Abstract Tree mortality rates are increasing within tropical rainforests as a result of global environmental change. When trees die, gaps are created in forest canopies and carbon is transferred from the living to deadwood pools. However, little is known about the effect of tree-fall canopy gaps on the activity of decomposer communities and the rate of deadwood decay in forests. This means that the accuracy of regional and global carbon budgets is uncertain, especially given ongoing changes to the structure of rainforest ecosystems. Therefore, to determine the effect of canopy openings on wood decay rates and regional carbon flux, we carried out the first assessment of deadwood mass loss within canopy gaps in old-growth rainforest. We used replicated canopy gaps paired with closed canopy sites in combination with macroinvertebrate accessible and inaccessible woodblocks to experimentally partition the relative contribution of microbes vs. termites to decomposition within contrasting understorey conditions. We show that over a 12 month period, wood mass loss increased by 63% in canopy gaps compared with closed canopy sites and that this increase was driven by termites. Using LiDAR data to quantify the proportion of canopy openings in the study region, we modelled the effect of observed changes in decomposition within gaps on regional carbon flux. Overall, we estimate that this accelerated decomposition increases regional wood decay rate by up to 18.2%, corresponding to a flux increase of 0.27 Mg C ha
    MeSH term(s) Carbon ; Carbon Cycle ; Ecosystem ; Forests ; Rainforest ; Trees ; Tropical Climate
    Chemical Substances Carbon (7440-44-0)
    Language English
    Publishing date 2021-01-27
    Publishing country England
    Document type Journal Article
    ZDB-ID 1281439-8
    ISSN 1365-2486 ; 1354-1013
    ISSN (online) 1365-2486
    ISSN 1354-1013
    DOI 10.1111/gcb.15488
    Database MEDical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System OnLINE

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