Intraspecific variability and species turnover drive variations in Collembola body size along a temperate-boreal elevation gradient
Zhijing Xie,
Johannes Lux,
Yunga Wu,
Xin Sun,
Ting-Wen Chen,
Jinlei Zhu,
Jian Zhang,
Donghui Wu,
Stefan Scheu
Affiliations
Zhijing Xie
Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology, Ministry of Education, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China; State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Vegetation Restoration, School of Environment, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China; J.-F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
Johannes Lux
J.-F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
Yunga Wu
Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology, Ministry of Education, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China; State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Vegetation Restoration, School of Environment, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China; J.-F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
Xin Sun
Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, China; Corresponding authors at: Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology, Ministry of Education, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China.
Ting-Wen Chen
J.-F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany; Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Soil Biology and Biogeochemistry, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Jinlei Zhu
Institute of Ecological Conservation and Restoration, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, China
Jian Zhang
Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation Research Station, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China; Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Shanghai, China
Donghui Wu
Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology, Ministry of Education, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China; State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Vegetation Restoration, School of Environment, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China; Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment, State Key Laboratory of Black Soils Conservation and Utilization, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, China; Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China; Corresponding authors at: Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology, Ministry of Education, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China.
Stefan Scheu
J.-F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany; Centre of Biodiversity and Sustainable Land Use, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
Investigating functional facets of biodiversity across elevation gradients provides the perspective to deepen understanding of the response of communities to global changes. Functional ecology approaches typically assume that filtering of traits across broad environmental gradients is largely due to species turnover rather than intraspecific trait variability. However, few studies quantified the relative importance of species turnover versus intraspecific variability for the composition of soil animal communities across environmental gradients. Here, for the first time, we investigated the relative contribution of species turnover, intraspecific trait variability and their covariation to changes in Collembola body size based on measurements at the individual level along a temperate-boreal elevation gradient in northeastern China. The results indicated that community weighted mean (CWM) body size of Collembola varied significantly with elevation as well as with life form, with the variations in CWM body size in total, epedaphic and hemiedaphic species being similar and more pronounced than in euedaphic Collembola. These variations in body size were driven to a similar extent by intraspecific trait variability and species turnover, with the former being somewhat higher in total, epedaphic and euedaphic but not in hemiedaphic Collembola. Further, variations in body size were better explained by local habitat-related soil factors than by temperature, but the relative importance of these factors differed among ecological groups of Collembola. Overall, these findings show that intraspecific variations in traits may be of similar importance than the turnover of species and needs closer consideration when using trait approaches to understand biodiversity – ecosystem functioning relationships in face of global change.
