Dataset Information

Changes in Trophic Groups of Protists With Conversion of Rainforest Into Rubber and Oil Palm Plantations.

ABSTRACT: Protists, abundant but enigmatic single-celled eukaryotes, are important soil microbiota providing numerous ecosystem functions. We employed high-throughput sequencing of environmental DNA, targeting the V4 region of the 18S rRNA gene, to characterize changes in their abundance, species richness, and community structure with conversion of lowland rainforest into rubber agroforest (jungle rubber), and rubber and oil palm plantations; typical agricultural systems in Sumatra, Indonesia. We identified 5,204 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) at 97% identity threshold of protists from 32 sites. Protists species richness was similar in rainforest, jungle rubber and oil palm plantations but significantly lower in rubber plantations. After standardization, 4,219 OTUs were assigned to five trophic groups, and inspected for effects of land-use change, and potential biotic and abiotic driving factors. The most abundant trophic group was phagotrophs (52%), followed by animal parasites (29%), photoautotrophs (12%), plant parasites (1%), and symbionts (<1%). However, the relative abundance and OTU richness of phagotrophs and photoautotrophs increased significantly with increasing land-use intensity. This was similar, but less pronounced, for the relative abundance of symbionts. Animal and plant parasites decreased significantly in abundance and species richness with increasing land-use intensity. Community compositions and factors affecting the structure of individual trophic groups differed between land-use systems. Parasites were presumably mainly driven by the abundance and species richness of their hosts, while phagotrophs by changes in soil pH and increase in Gram-positive bacteria, and photoautotrophs by light availability. Overall, the results show that relative species richness, relative abundance, and community composition of individual trophic groups of protists in tropical lowland rainforest significantly differ from that in converted ecosystems. This is likely associated with changes in ecosystem functioning. The study provides novel insight into protist communities and their changes with land-use intensity in tropical lowland ecosystems. We show, that trophic groups of protists are powerful indicators reflecting changes in the functioning of ecosystems with conversion of rainforest into monoculture plantations.

SUBMITTER: Schulz G

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6380168 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Changes in Trophic Groups of Protists With Conversion of Rainforest Into Rubber and Oil Palm Plantations.

Schulz Garvin G Schneider Dominik D Brinkmann Nicole N Edy Nur N Daniel Rolf R Polle Andrea A Scheu Stefan S Krashevska Valentyna V

Frontiers in microbiology 20190212

Protists, abundant but enigmatic single-celled eukaryotes, are important soil microbiota providing numerous ecosystem functions. We employed high-throughput sequencing of environmental DNA, targeting the V4 region of the 18S rRNA gene, to characterize changes in their abundance, species richness, and community structure with conversion of lowland rainforest into rubber agroforest (jungle rubber), and rubber and oil palm plantations; typical agricultural systems in Sumatra, Indonesia. We identifi ...[more]

PMID: 30809219

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Project description:Rainforest conversion and expansion of plantations in tropical regions are associated with changes in animal communities and biodiversity decline. In soil, Collembola are one of the most numerous invertebrate groups that affect the functioning of microbial communities and support arthropod predators. Despite that, information on the impact of changes in land use in the tropics on species and trait composition of Collembola communities is very limited. We investigated the response of Collembola to the conversion of rainforest into rubber agroforestry ("jungle rubber"), rubber, and oil palm plantations in Jambi Province (Sumatra, Indonesia), a region which experienced one of the strongest recent deforestation globally. Collembola were sampled in 2013 and 2016 from the litter and soil layer using heat extraction, and environmental factors were measured (litter C/N ratio, pH, water content, composition of microbial community and predator abundance). In the litter layer, density and species richness in plantation systems were 25%-38% and 30%-40% lower, respectively, than in rainforest. However, in the soil layer, density, species richness, and trait diversity of Collembola were only slightly affected by land-use change, contrasting the response of many other animal groups. Species and trait composition of Collembola communities in litter and soil differed between each of the land-use systems. Water content and pH were identified as main factors related to the differences in species and trait composition in both litter and soil, followed by the density of micro- and macropredators. Dominant species of Collembola in rainforest and jungle rubber were characterized by small body size, absence of furca, and absence of intense pigmentation, while in plantations, larger species with long furca and diffuse or patterned pigmentation were more abundant. Overall, land-use change negatively affected Collembola communities in the litter layer, but its impact was lower in the soil layer. Several pantropical genera of Collembola (i.e., Isotomiella, Pseudosinella, and Folsomides) dominated across land-use systems, reflecting their high environmental adaptability and/or efficient dispersal, calling for studies on their ecology and genetic diversity. The decline in species richness and density of litter-dwelling Collembola with the conversion of rainforest into plantation systems calls for management practices mitigating negative effects of the deterioration of the litter layer in rubber plantations, but even more in oil palm plantations.

Project description:Rainforest canopies, home to one of the most complex and diverse terrestrial arthropod communities, are threatened by conversion of rainforest into agricultural production systems. However, little is known about how predatory arthropod communities respond to such conversion. To address this, we compared canopy spider (Araneae) communities from lowland rainforest with those from three agricultural systems in Jambi Province, Sumatra, Indonesia, i.e., jungle rubber (rubber agroforest) and monoculture plantations of rubber and oil palm. Using canopy fogging, we collected 10,676 spider specimens belonging to 36 families and 445 morphospecies. The four most abundant families (Salticidae N = 2,043, Oonopidae N = 1,878, Theridiidae N = 1,533 and Clubionidae N = 1,188) together comprised 62.2% of total individuals, while the four most speciose families, Salticidae (S = 87), Theridiidae (S = 83), Araneidae (S = 48) and Thomisidae (S = 39), contained 57.8% of all morphospecies identified. In lowland rainforest, average abundance, biomass and species richness of canopy spiders was at least twice as high as in rubber or oil palm plantations, with jungle rubber showing similar abundances as rainforest, and intermediate biomass and richness. Community composition of spiders was similar in rainforest and jungle rubber, but differed from rubber and oil palm, which also differed from each other. Canonical Correspondence Analysis showed that canopy openness, aboveground tree biomass and tree density together explained 18.2% of the variation in spider communities at family level. On a morphospecies level, vascular plant species richness and tree density significantly affected the community composition but explained only 6.8% of the variance. While abundance, biomass and diversity of spiders declined strongly with the conversion of rainforest into monoculture plantations of rubber and oil palm, we also found that a large proportion of the rainforest spider community can thrive in extensive agroforestry systems such as jungle rubber. Despite being very different from rainforest, the canopy spider communities in rubber and oil palm plantations may still play a vital role in the biological control of canopy herbivore species, thus contributing important ecosystem services. The components of tree and palm canopy structure identified as major determinants of canopy spider communities may aid in decision-making processes toward establishing cash-crop plantation management systems which foster herbivore control by spiders.

Dataset Information

Changes in Trophic Groups of Protists With Conversion of Rainforest Into Rubber and Oil Palm Plantations.

Publications

Changes in Trophic Groups of Protists With Conversion of Rainforest Into Rubber and Oil Palm Plantations.

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