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Atmospheric change causes declines in woodland arthropods and impacts specific trophic groups
Author(s) -
Facey Sarah L.,
Fidler David B.,
Rowe Rhian C.,
Bromfield Lisa M.,
Nooten Sabine S.,
Staley Joanna T.,
Ellsworth David S.,
Johnson Scott N.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
agricultural and forest entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.755
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1461-9563
pISSN - 1461-9555
DOI - 10.1111/afe.12190
Subject(s) - trophic level , ecology , woodland , herbivore , biology , ecosystem , abundance (ecology) , omnivore , invertebrate , detritivore , terrestrial ecosystem , arthropod , predation
A rthropod assemblages form a fundamental part of terrestrial ecosystems, underpinning ecosystem processes and services. Yet, little is known about how invertebrate communities, as a whole, respond to climatic and atmospheric changes, including predicted increases in carbon dioxide concentrations ( CO 2 ). T o date, woodland F ree A ir CO 2 E nrichment ( FACE ) studies have focused entirely on northern hemisphere managed plantations. We manipulated atmospheric CO 2 in a mature, native E ucalyptus woodland (0.15 ha, >32 000 m 3 ) in A ustralia, using the E ucalyptus FACE (‘EucFACE’) facility. We used three complementary sampling methods (vacuum sampling, pitfall and sticky trapping) to record invertebrate abundances under ambient and elevated levels of CO 2 (400 versus 550 ppm). B ased on the collection of over 83 000 invertebrates, we found significant declines in the overall abundance of ground‐dwelling (14.7%) and aerial (12.9%) arthropods under elevated CO 2 , with significant decreases in herbivore, omnivore, scavenger and parasitoid functional groups. Even though several groups showed varying declines in abundance, elevated CO 2 did not measurably affect community composition. The results of the present study indicate that atmospheric CO 2 levels predicted within the next 35 years may cause declines in arthropod abundances in E ucalyptus woodland. Declines found in several functional groups suggest that elevated atmospheric CO 2 has the potential to affect ecosystem processes, possibly including nutrient cycling by herbivores and omnivores, as well as biocontrol by parasitoids.