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Taxonomic and community composition of epigeal arthropods in monoculture and mixed tree species plantations in a deciduous forest of Ghana

  • Tropical forests provide several ecosystem services and functions and support approximately two-thirds of the world’s biodiversity but are seriously threatened by deforestation. Approaches to counteract this menace have revolved around aforestation with several or a single tree species. We thus investigated how plantation forests with either a single or several tree species infuenced arthropod taxonomic and community composition using pitfall traps to sample selected groups of epigeal arthropods (Araneae, Coleoptera, Orthoptera and Hymenoptera) and with environmental variables assessed simultaneously. Our results revealed 54 taxonomic groups with signifcantly higher taxonomic richness, activity density, and diversity in the mixed stands than in the monoculture stands. The significant differences in community composition were mainly driven by families including Lycosidae, Formicidae, Staphylinidae, Scotylidae, Hydrophilidae, Gryllidae and Scarabaeidae and were explained by distinct habitat characteristics (canopy openness, litterTropical forests provide several ecosystem services and functions and support approximately two-thirds of the world’s biodiversity but are seriously threatened by deforestation. Approaches to counteract this menace have revolved around aforestation with several or a single tree species. We thus investigated how plantation forests with either a single or several tree species infuenced arthropod taxonomic and community composition using pitfall traps to sample selected groups of epigeal arthropods (Araneae, Coleoptera, Orthoptera and Hymenoptera) and with environmental variables assessed simultaneously. Our results revealed 54 taxonomic groups with signifcantly higher taxonomic richness, activity density, and diversity in the mixed stands than in the monoculture stands. The significant differences in community composition were mainly driven by families including Lycosidae, Formicidae, Staphylinidae, Scotylidae, Hydrophilidae, Gryllidae and Scarabaeidae and were explained by distinct habitat characteristics (canopy openness, litter depth, deadwood volume, and tree height). While the diverse tree communities and heterogeneous vegetation structure ofered food and habitat resources for diverse arthropod groups, the allelopathic nature coupled with homogenous stand characteristics of the Tectona grandis stands in the monoculture suppressed the growth of understorey vegetation that could otherwise serve as food and habitat resources for arthropods, which might have led to limited activities and diversity of arthropods in the monoculture plantation stands. The fndings thus highlight the need to promote mixed tree plantations in degraded tropical areas, especially when restoring biodiversity is the prime management focus.show moreshow less

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Author: Frederick Gyasi DampteyORCiD, Emmanuel Opuni-Frimpong, Collins Ayine Nsor, James Addai, Daniel Kwame Debrah, Benjamin Schnerch, Felicity Bentsi-Enchill, Henn Korjus
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-022-01508-y
Title of the source (English):Journal of Forestry Research
Document Type:Scientific journal article peer-reviewed
Language:English
Year of publication:2022
Tag:Arthropod community; Forest plantations; Structural complexity; Tree diversity; Tropical deforestation
Volume/Year:34
Issue number:3
First Page:641
Last Page:653
Faculty/Chair:Fakultät 2 Umwelt und Naturwissenschaften / FG Ökologie
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