Fire Severity Causes Temporal Changes in Ground-Dwelling Arthropod Assemblages of Patagonian <i>Araucaria–Nothofagus</i> Forests
Fire is one of the main drivers of anthropogenic disturbances in temperate forest ecosystems worldwide, with multiple effects spread across ecological networks. Nevertheless, the biodiversity effects of fire are poorly known for species-diverse groups such as arthropods. In this research, we used a...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-10-01
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| Series: | Fire |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/5/5/168 |
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| author | Alfredo H. Zúñiga Jaime R. Rau Andrés Fierro Pablo M. Vergara Francisco Encina-Montoya Andrés Fuentes-Ramírez Fabian M. Jaksic |
| author_facet | Alfredo H. Zúñiga Jaime R. Rau Andrés Fierro Pablo M. Vergara Francisco Encina-Montoya Andrés Fuentes-Ramírez Fabian M. Jaksic |
| author_sort | Alfredo H. Zúñiga |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Fire is one of the main drivers of anthropogenic disturbances in temperate forest ecosystems worldwide, with multiple effects spread across ecological networks. Nevertheless, the biodiversity effects of fire are poorly known for species-diverse groups such as arthropods. In this research, we used a burn gradient generated two and three years after a large fire event to assess how different levels of fire severity affect arthropod diversity in the forest with the main forest forming long-living tree species <i>Araucaria araucana</i>, in southern Chile. The species richness and abundance of arthropods among trophic guilds was estimated annually in four fire-severity levels. We found that arthropods responded differently to fire severity levels, depending on their trophic guilds and years after fire (two and three years after fire). During the second year after fire, zoophages, phytophages, and parasitoids were more diverse in areas with high fire severity within the second year after fire, as compared to those in areas with low severity or unburned stands. In the third year after fire, a change in this trend was observed, where the abundance of all groups dropped significantly, with positive changes in the diversity in zoophages, phytophages, polyphages and saprophages, which is more noticeable in sites with high severity. These results indicate that annual variation in environmental conditions triggers bottom-up cascading effects for arthropods. Forests stands severely impacted by fires support highly fluctuating and possibly unstable arthropod assemblages. Hence, restoration efforts should be focused on recovering microhabitat conditions in these stands to allow the persistence of arthropods. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T20:14:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-198bb8adcae0425194517f682208375d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2571-6255 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T20:14:15Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Fire |
| spelling | doaj.art-198bb8adcae0425194517f682208375d2023-11-24T00:05:34ZengMDPI AGFire2571-62552022-10-015516810.3390/fire5050168Fire Severity Causes Temporal Changes in Ground-Dwelling Arthropod Assemblages of Patagonian <i>Araucaria–Nothofagus</i> ForestsAlfredo H. Zúñiga0Jaime R. Rau1Andrés Fierro2Pablo M. Vergara3Francisco Encina-Montoya4Andrés Fuentes-Ramírez5Fabian M. Jaksic6Departamento de Ciencias Agronómicas y Recursos Naturales, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco 4810296, ChileLaboratorio de Ecología, Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas y Biodiversidad, Universidad de Los Lagos, Osorno 5310000, ChileDepartamento de Gestión Agraria, Facultad Tecnológica, Universidad de Santiago de Chile (USACH), Santiago 9170022, ChileDepartamento de Gestión Agraria, Facultad Tecnológica, Universidad de Santiago de Chile (USACH), Santiago 9170022, ChileNúcleo de Estudios Ambientales, Departamento de Cs. Ambientales, Universidad Católica de Temuco, Temuco 4810296, ChileLaboratorio de Biometría, Departamento de Ciencias Forestales, Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias y Medioambiente, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco 4810296, ChileCenter of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Santiago 8331150, ChileFire is one of the main drivers of anthropogenic disturbances in temperate forest ecosystems worldwide, with multiple effects spread across ecological networks. Nevertheless, the biodiversity effects of fire are poorly known for species-diverse groups such as arthropods. In this research, we used a burn gradient generated two and three years after a large fire event to assess how different levels of fire severity affect arthropod diversity in the forest with the main forest forming long-living tree species <i>Araucaria araucana</i>, in southern Chile. The species richness and abundance of arthropods among trophic guilds was estimated annually in four fire-severity levels. We found that arthropods responded differently to fire severity levels, depending on their trophic guilds and years after fire (two and three years after fire). During the second year after fire, zoophages, phytophages, and parasitoids were more diverse in areas with high fire severity within the second year after fire, as compared to those in areas with low severity or unburned stands. In the third year after fire, a change in this trend was observed, where the abundance of all groups dropped significantly, with positive changes in the diversity in zoophages, phytophages, polyphages and saprophages, which is more noticeable in sites with high severity. These results indicate that annual variation in environmental conditions triggers bottom-up cascading effects for arthropods. Forests stands severely impacted by fires support highly fluctuating and possibly unstable arthropod assemblages. Hence, restoration efforts should be focused on recovering microhabitat conditions in these stands to allow the persistence of arthropods.https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/5/5/168<i>Araucaria araucana</i>disturbanceepigeic entomofaunadisturbancesNational Reservetrophic guild |
| spellingShingle | Alfredo H. Zúñiga Jaime R. Rau Andrés Fierro Pablo M. Vergara Francisco Encina-Montoya Andrés Fuentes-Ramírez Fabian M. Jaksic Fire Severity Causes Temporal Changes in Ground-Dwelling Arthropod Assemblages of Patagonian <i>Araucaria–Nothofagus</i> Forests Fire <i>Araucaria araucana</i> disturbance epigeic entomofauna disturbances National Reserve trophic guild |
| title | Fire Severity Causes Temporal Changes in Ground-Dwelling Arthropod Assemblages of Patagonian <i>Araucaria–Nothofagus</i> Forests |
| title_full | Fire Severity Causes Temporal Changes in Ground-Dwelling Arthropod Assemblages of Patagonian <i>Araucaria–Nothofagus</i> Forests |
| title_fullStr | Fire Severity Causes Temporal Changes in Ground-Dwelling Arthropod Assemblages of Patagonian <i>Araucaria–Nothofagus</i> Forests |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fire Severity Causes Temporal Changes in Ground-Dwelling Arthropod Assemblages of Patagonian <i>Araucaria–Nothofagus</i> Forests |
| title_short | Fire Severity Causes Temporal Changes in Ground-Dwelling Arthropod Assemblages of Patagonian <i>Araucaria–Nothofagus</i> Forests |
| title_sort | fire severity causes temporal changes in ground dwelling arthropod assemblages of patagonian i araucaria nothofagus i forests |
| topic | <i>Araucaria araucana</i> disturbance epigeic entomofauna disturbances National Reserve trophic guild |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/5/5/168 |
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