Teatime in the Serengeti: macrodetritivores sustain recalcitrant plant litter decomposition across human-modified tropic
- PDF / 1,490,166 Bytes
- 18 Pages / 547.087 x 737.008 pts Page_size
- 102 Downloads / 158 Views
REGULAR ARTICLE
Teatime in the Serengeti: macrodetritivores sustain recalcitrant plant litter decomposition across human-modified tropical savannahs Anders Sundsdal & Bente J. Graae & James D. M. Speed & John Bukombe & Philipo Jacob Mtweve & Marit K. Arneberg & Vilde L. Haukenes & Ragnhild T. Grevskott & Stuart W. Smith
Received: 23 February 2020 / Accepted: 1 September 2020 / Published online: 17 September 2020 # The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Background and aims Intensification of savannah landuse is predicted to negatively influence soil biodiversity and functioning such as litter decomposition by detritivores. Loss of macrodetritivores, particularly termites, may be problematic in drier savannahs due to the capacity of macrodetritivores to sustain litter decomposition. Here we investigate how human land-use and spatiotemporal rainfall influence the contribution of macrodetritivores to plant litter decomposition. Methods We measured decomposition using globally standardized litter: labile green and recalcitrant rooibos tea litter. The contribution of macrodetritivores to litter decomposition was determined through exclusion using meshed litterbags. Litter decomposition was determined in agricultural land, pastureland and wildlife protected
areas during both wet and dry seasons and in mesic and wet rainfall regions across the borders of the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. Results Macrodetritivores consumed recalcitrant rooibos and mainly avoided labile green tea litter. On average macrodetritivores enhanced recalcitrant litter decomposition by 22%, but litter mass loss varied across land-uses, typically being higher on agricultural and pastureland compared to wildlife protected areas, and was sustained during periods of water scarcity. However, we observed instances of higher decomposition of recalcitrant litter by macrodetritivores in wildlife protected areas. In contrast, litter decomposition by microbes and microdetritivores was more constrained by seasonal and regional water availability with a minor influence of land-use.
Responsible Editor: Yolima Carrillo. A. Sundsdal : B. J. Graae : M. K. Arneberg : V. L. Haukenes : R. T. Grevskott : S. W. Smith Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway J. D. M. Speed Department of Natural History, NTNU University Museum, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway J. Bukombe Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute, P.O. Box 661, Arusha, Tanzania
P. J. Mtweve College of Forestry, Wildlife & Tourism - Wildlife Management Department, Sokoine University of Agriculture, P.O. Box 3073, Morogoro, Tanzania V. L. Haukenes Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, 1432 Ås, Norway S. W. Smith (*) Asian School of Environment, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore e-mail: [email protected]
242
Conclusion We found that moderate human-modification of savannahs is compatible with macrode
Data Loading...
