Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway.
PLoS One. 2021 Mar 18;16(3):e0248756. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0248756. eCollection 2021.
Veteran hollow trees are keystone structures in ecosystems and provide important habitat for a diverse set of organisms, many of which are involved in the process of decomposition. Since veteran trees are 'islands' of high biodiversity, they provide a unique system in which to study the relationship between biodiversity and decomposition of wood. We tested this relationship with a balanced experiential design, where we quantified the taxonomic and functional diversity of beetles directly involved in the process of decomposing wood, and measured the decomposition of experimentally added bundles of small diameter wood around 20 veteran trees and 20 nearby young trees in southern Norway. We found that the diversity (both taxonomic and functional) of wood-decomposing beetles was significantly higher around the veteran trees, and beetle communities around veteran trees consisted of species with a greater preference for larger diameter wood. We extracted few beetles from the experimentally added wood bundles, regardless of the tree type that they were placed near, but decomposition rates were significantly lower around veteran trees. We speculate that slower decomposition rates around veteran trees could have been a result of a greater diversity of competing fungi, which has been found to decrease decay rates. Veteran trees provide an ecological legacy within anthropogenic landscapes, enhance biodiversity and influence wood decomposition. Actions to protect veteran trees are urgently needed in order to save these valuable organisms and their associated biodiversity.
古树空心是生态系统的关键结构，为许多参与分解过程的生物提供了重要的栖息地。由于古树是高生物多样性的“岛屿”，它们提供了一个独特的系统，可以研究生物多样性与木材分解之间的关系。我们通过平衡实验设计来检验这种关系，在这种设计中，我们量化了直接参与木材分解过程的甲虫的分类和功能多样性，并测量了在挪威南部 20 棵古树和 20 棵附近的幼树周围实验添加的小直径木材束的分解情况。我们发现，古树周围的木质分解甲虫的多样性（分类和功能）明显更高，古树周围的甲虫群落由对较大直径木材有更大偏好的物种组成。无论它们被放置在靠近哪种类型的树木，我们从实验添加的木材束中提取的甲虫都很少，但古树周围的分解速度明显较低。我们推测，古树周围分解速度较慢可能是由于竞争真菌的多样性更大，而竞争真菌已被发现会降低腐朽速度。古树在人为景观中提供了生态遗产，增强了生物多样性并影响了木材分解。为了拯救这些有价值的生物及其相关生物多样性，迫切需要采取行动保护古树。
