Litter decomposition and arthropod composition under different ultraviolet levels following prescribed burn in a subtrop
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Litter decomposition and arthropod composition under different ultraviolet levels following prescribed burn in a subtropical pastureland Wei Huang 1,2,3 & Grizelle González 4 & María Fernanda Barberena-Arias 5 & Xiaoming Zou 1,2 Received: 8 May 2020 / Revised: 24 August 2020 / Accepted: 4 September 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Reduction in faunal diversity is suggested to reduce litter decomposition, whereas increases in ultraviolet (UV) radiation may directlyenhanceorindirectlyretardlitterdecomposition.HereweexaminedtheeffectofsoilarthropodsandUVradiationonlitter decomposition in burned and unburned plots during a 469-day field experiment in a subtropical pastureland of Puerto Rico. Prescribed burn reduced soil arthropod diversity and increased UV radiation during the initial period of 240 days following the burn, and consequently reduced plant litter decomposition. The density of predators was lower in the burned than in control treatment. UV radiation reduced total arthropod density and diversity by retarding the recolonization of soil arthropods in the burned plots with reduced abundance of predators after 344 days post-burn incubation. Prescribed burn slowed down plant litter decomposition through direct reduction in arthropod diversity immediately after fire and through increase in UV radiation that retardstherecolonizationofarthropodsinlaterstagesaftertheprescribedburninthesubtropicalpastureland. Keywords Fire . Invertebrate . Litter decay . Puerto Rico . UV radiation
Introduction Litter decomposition is a biogeochemical process fundamental to element cycling in terrestrial ecosystems (Bradford et al. 2016). Burning can mediate decomposition processes through
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-020-01506-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Xiaoming Zou [email protected] 1
College of Biology and the Environment, Nanjing Forestry University, 159 Longpan Road, Nanjing 210037, Jiangsu, China
2
Department of Environmental Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, University of Puerto Rico, P.O. Box 70377, San Juan, PR 00936-8377, USA
3
Key Laboratory of Coastal Basin Environment, Fujian Polytechnic Normal University, Fuqing 350300, Fujian, China
4
International Institute of Tropical Forestry, USDA Forest Service, Jardín Botánico Sur, 1201 Calle Ceiba, Rio Piedras, PR 00926-1119, USA
5
School of Sciences and Technology, Universidad Ana G. Méndez– Recinto de Gurabo, Gurabo, PR 00778, USA
changes in litter quality and quantity, decomposer community, and abiotic characteristics of the post-burn habitat (e.g. temperature, moisture, and solar irradiation) (O'Lear et al. 1996; Podgaiski et al. 2014). Burning causes a shift in the relative contribution of these three drivers to the pace of decomposition (Brennan et al. 2009). With more frequent burns, there is a marked increase in the functional importance of meso- and macroinvertebrate as
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