Ewers Robert M, Boyle Michael J W, Gleave Rosalind A, Plowman Nichola S, Benedick Suzan, Bernard Henry, Bishop Tom R, Bakhtiar Effendi Y, Chey Vun Khen, Chung Arthur Y C, Davies Richard G, Edwards David P, Eggleton Paul, Fayle Tom M, Hardwick Stephen R, Homathevi Rahman, Kitching Roger L, Khoo Min Sheng, Luke Sarah H, March Joshua J, Nilus Reuben, Pfeifer Marion, Rao Sri V, Sharp Adam C, Snaddon Jake L, Stork Nigel E, Struebig Matthew J, Wearn Oliver R, Yusah Kalsum M, Turner Edgar C
Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Buckhurst Road, Ascot SL5 7PY, UK.
1] Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Buckhurst Road, Ascot SL5 7PY, UK [2] Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branisovska 31, Ceske Budejovice CZ-370 05, Czech Republic [3] Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of Czech Academy of Sciences, Branisovska 31, Ceske Budejovice CZ-370 05, Czech Republic.
Nat Commun. 2015 Apr 13;6:6836. doi: 10.1038/ncomms7836.
Invertebrates are dominant species in primary tropical rainforests, where their abundance and diversity contributes to the functioning and resilience of these globally important ecosystems. However, more than one-third of tropical forests have been logged, with dramatic impacts on rainforest biodiversity that may disrupt key ecosystem processes. We find that the contribution of invertebrates to three ecosystem processes operating at three trophic levels (litter decomposition, seed predation and removal, and invertebrate predation) is reduced by up to one-half following logging. These changes are associated with decreased abundance of key functional groups of termites, ants, beetles and earthworms, and an increase in the abundance of small mammals, amphibians and insectivorous birds in logged relative to primary forest. Our results suggest that ecosystem processes themselves have considerable resilience to logging, but the consistent decline of invertebrate functional importance is indicative of a human-induced shift in how these ecological processes operate in tropical rainforests.
无脊椎动物是原始热带雨林中的优势物种，它们的丰富度和多样性对这些全球重要生态系统的功能和恢复力具有重要作用。然而，超过三分之一的热带森林已被砍伐，这对雨林生物多样性产生了巨大影响，可能会扰乱关键的生态系统进程。我们发现，砍伐后无脊椎动物对三个营养级水平上运行的三个生态系统进程（凋落物分解、种子捕食与清除以及无脊椎动物捕食）的贡献减少了多达一半。这些变化与白蚁、蚂蚁、甲虫和蚯蚓等关键功能类群的数量减少有关，并且与原始森林相比，砍伐森林中小型哺乳动物、两栖动物和食虫鸟类的数量增加有关。我们的研究结果表明，生态系统进程本身对砍伐具有相当的恢复力，但无脊椎动物功能重要性的持续下降表明，这些生态进程在热带雨林中的运作方式发生了人为导致的转变。
