Abstract
BackgroundHow land use shapes biodiversity and functional trait composition of animal communities is an important question and frequently addressed. Land-use intensification is associated with changes in abiotic and biotic conditions including environmental homogenization and may act as an environmental filter to shape the composition of species communities. Here, we investigated the responses of land snail assemblages to land-use intensity and abiotic soil conditions (pH, soil moisture), and analyzed their trait composition (shell size, number of offspring, light preference, humidity preference, inundation tolerance, and drought resistance). We characterized the species’ responses to land use to identify ‘winners’ (species that were more common on sites with high land-use intensity than expected) or ‘losers’ of land-use intensity (more common on plots with low land-use intensity) and their niche breadth. As a proxy for the environmental ‘niche breadth’ of each snail species, based on the conditions of the sites in which it occurred, we defined a 5-dimensional niche hypervolume. We then tested whether land-use responses and niches contribute to the species’ potential vulnerability suggested by the Red List status.ResultsOur results confirmed that the trait composition of snail communities was significantly altered by land-use intensity and abiotic conditions in both forests and grasslands. While only 4% of the species that occurred in forests were significant losers of intensive forest management, the proportion of losers in grasslands was much higher (21%). However, the species’ response to land-use intensity and soil conditions was largely independent of specific traits and the species’ Red List status (vulnerability). Instead, vulnerability was only mirrored in the species’ rarity and its niche hypervolume: threatened species were characterized by low occurrence in forests and low occurrence and abundance in grasslands and by a narrow niche quantified by land-use components and abiotic factors.ConclusionLand use and environmental responses of land snails were poorly predicted by specific traits or the species’ vulnerability, suggesting that it is important to consider complementary risks and multiple niche dimensions.
Highlights
How land use shapes biodiversity and functional trait composition of animal communities is an important question and frequently addressed
Assemblages of forest species consisted of larger species, consistently showed lower light and higher humidity preference, lower drought resistance and mostly lower inundation tolerance than grassland assemblages; differences in the number of offspring were inconsistent among forest and grassland habitats (Fig. 1)
In forests, land-use intensity and abiotic conditions significantly influenced the community weighted mean (CWM) of all traits investigated, often in a different way across regions (Table 1, Additional file 1: Appendix 1; see interaction terms with region)
Summary
How land use shapes biodiversity and functional trait composition of animal communities is an important question and frequently addressed. Land-use intensification is associated with changes in abiotic and biotic conditions including environmental homogenization and may act as an environmental filter to shape the composition of species communities. We investigated the responses of land snail assemblages to land-use intensity and abiotic soil conditions (pH, soil moisture), and analyzed their trait composition (shell size, number of offspring, light preference, humidity preference, inundation tolerance, and drought resistance). Homogenization of animal communities by increasing land-use intensity has been shown for several taxa; e.g., in managed grasslands, 34% of plant- and leafhoppers species were significant losers (See figure on page.) Fig. 1 Trait distribution (a shell size, b number of offspring, c light preference, d humidity preference, e drought resistance, f inundation tolerance) of snail communities among forest (grey) and grassland (white) habitats in the Swabian Alb, the Hainich-Dün and the Schorfheide-Chorin. Significances: ns not significant, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 land-use intensity) of land-use intensification, increases in mowing frequency had a negative effect [9]
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