Büchner Gwen, Hothorn Torsten, Feldhaar Heike, von Hoermann Christian, Lackner Tomáš, Rietz Janine, Schlüter Jens, Mitesser Oliver, Benbow M Eric, Heurich Marco, Müller Jörg
Population Ecology, Animal Ecology I, Bayreuther Center of Ecology and Environmental Research (BayCEER) Faculty of Biology, Chemistry and Earth Sciences University of Bayreuth Bayreuth Germany.
Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute University of Zurich Zurich Switzerland.
Ecol Evol. 2024 Sep 1;14(9):e70203. doi: 10.1002/ece3.70203. eCollection 2024 Sep.
Silphinae (Staphylinidae; carrion beetles) are important contributors to the efficient decomposition and recycling of carrion necromass. Their community composition is important for the provision of this ecosystem function and can be affected by abiotic and biotic factors. However, investigations are lacking on the effects of carrion characteristics on Silphinae diversity. Carrion body mass may affect Silphinae diversity following the (MIH). The MIH predicts a higher number of species at larger carrion because higher numbers of individuals can be supported on the resource patch. Additionally, biotic factors like carrion species identity or decomposition stage, and the abiotic factors elevation, season and temperature could affect Silphinae diversity. To test the hypotheses, we collected Silphinae throughout the decomposition of 100 carcasses representing 10 mammal species ranging from 0.04 to 124 kg. Experimental carcasses were exposed in a mountain forest landscape in Germany during spring and summer of 2021. We analysed Silphinae diversity using recently developed transformation models that considered the difficult data distribution we obtained. We found no consistent effect of carrion body mass on Silphinae species richness and, therefore, rejected the MIH. Carrion decomposition stage, in contrast, strongly influenced Silphinae diversity. Abundance and species richness increased with the decomposition process. Silphinae abundance increased with temperature and decreased with elevation. Furthermore, Silphinae abundance was lower in summer compared to spring, likely due to increased co-occurrence and competition with dipteran larvae in summer. Neither carrion species identity nor any abiotic factor affected Silphinae species richness following a pattern consistent throughout the seasons. Our approach combining a broad study design with an improved method for data analysis, transformation models, revealed new insights into mechanisms driving carrion beetle diversity during carrion decomposition. Overall, our study illustrates the complexity and multifactorial nature of biotic and abiotic factors affecting diversity.
埋葬虫亚科（葬甲科；食腐甲虫）对腐肉尸体的高效分解和循环利用起着重要作用。它们的群落组成对于这一生态系统功能的发挥至关重要，并且可能受到非生物和生物因素的影响。然而，目前缺乏关于腐肉特征对埋葬虫亚科多样性影响的研究。腐肉体重可能会按照中等干扰假说（MIH）影响埋葬虫亚科的多样性。中等干扰假说预测，较大的腐肉上会有更多的物种，因为资源斑块上能够支撑更多的个体。此外，腐肉物种身份或分解阶段等生物因素，以及海拔、季节和温度等非生物因素，都可能影响埋葬虫亚科的多样性。为了验证这些假设，我们在100具代表10种哺乳动物物种（体重从0.04千克到124千克不等）的尸体分解过程中收集了埋葬虫亚科。2021年春夏期间，实验尸体被放置在德国的一片山林景观中。我们使用最近开发的转换模型分析埋葬虫亚科的多样性，该模型考虑了我们所获得的复杂数据分布。我们发现腐肉体重对埋葬虫亚科物种丰富度没有一致的影响，因此拒绝了中等干扰假说。相比之下，腐肉分解阶段对埋葬虫亚科的多样性有强烈影响。随着分解过程，丰度和物种丰富度增加。埋葬虫亚科的丰度随温度升高而增加，随海拔升高而降低。此外，与春季相比，夏季埋葬虫亚科的丰度较低，这可能是由于夏季双翅目幼虫的共生和竞争增加所致。在整个季节中，腐肉物种身份和任何非生物因素都没有按照一致的模式影响埋葬虫亚科的物种丰富度。我们将广泛的研究设计与改进的数据分析方法（转换模型）相结合的方法，揭示了腐肉分解过程中驱动食腐甲虫多样性的机制的新见解。总体而言，我们的研究说明了影响多样性的生物和非生物因素的复杂性和多因素性质。
