Concordance and discordance between taxonomic and functional homogenization: responses of soil mite assemblages to forest conversion.

The compositional characteristics of ecological assemblages are often simplified; this process is termed "biotic homogenization." This process of biological reorganization occurs not only taxonomically but also functionally. Testing both aspects of homogenization is essential if ecosystem functioning supported by a diverse mosaic of functional traits in the landscape is concerned. Here, we aimed to infer the underlying processes of taxonomic/functional homogenization at the local scale, which is a scale that is meaningful for this research question. We recorded species of litter-dwelling oribatid mites along a gradient of forest conversion from a natural forest to a monoculture larch plantation in Japan (in total 11 stands), and collected data on the functional traits of the recorded species to quantify functional diversity. We calculated the taxonomic and functional ß-diversity, an index of biotic homogenization. We found that both the taxonomic and functional ß-diversity decreased with larch dominance (stand homogenization). After further deconstructing ß-diversity into the components of turnover and nestedness, which reflect different processes of community organization, a significant decrease in the response to larch dominance was observed only for the functional turnover. As a result, there was a steeper decline in the functional ß-diversity than the taxonomic ß-diversity. This discordance between the taxonomic and functional response suggests that species replacement occurs between species that are functionally redundant under environmental homogenization, ultimately leading to the stronger homogenization of functional diversity. The insights gained from community organization of oribatid mites suggest that the functional characteristics of local assemblages, which support the functionality of ecosystems, are of more concern in human-dominated forest landscapes.

Biotic homogenization and differentiation of soil faunal communities in the production forest landscape: taxonomic and functional perspectives.

Biotic homogenization has been reported worldwide. Although simplification of communities across space is often significant at larger scales, it could also occur at the local scale by changing biotic interactions. This study aimed to elucidate local community processes driving biotic homogenization of soil faunal communities, and the possibility of biotic re-differentiation. We recorded species of oribatid mites in litter and soil layers along a gradient of forest conversion from monoculture larch plantation to primary forests in central Japan. We collected data for functional traits of the recorded species to quantify functional diversity. Then we quantified their taxonomic/functional turnover. Litter diversity was reduced in the larch-dominated stands, leading to habitat homogenization. Consequently, litter communities were biologically homogenized and differentiated in the plantations and in the natural forest, respectively. Turnover of functional traits for litter communities was lower and higher than expected by chance in the plantations and in the natural stand, respectively. This result suggests that the dominant assembly process shifts from limiting similarity to habitat filtering along the forest restoration gradient. However, support for such niche-based explanations was not observed for communities in the soil layer. In the monocultures, functional diversity expected from a given regional species pool significantly decreased for litter communities but not for those in the soil layer. Such discrepancy between communities in different layers suggests that communities more exposed to anthropogenic stresses are more vulnerable to the loss of their functional roles. Our study explains possible community processes behind the observed patterns of biological organization, which can be potentially useful in guiding approaches for restoring biodiversity.

Patterns of shoot mortality in Betula platyphylla in northern Japan.

To understand the development of crown structure in Betula platyphylla Sukatch., mortality patterns of long shoots were analyzed quantitatively. We selected 25 saplings growing under various light conditions and measured the relative photosynthetically active radiation (rPAR) at, and the three-dimensional position of, first-order branches. A long shoot was assigned "no buds" (NB) status if it lacked buds at the end of the growing season, including at the tips of short shoots. A long shoot was classified as dead if it was NB and all the offspring long shoots issuing from it were NB. The probability that a leafy long shoot (a current-year long shoot with leaves or an older long shoot with short shoots with leaves) would become NB by the end of the season was positively dependent on shoot age and branch age, and negatively dependent on shoot length, centripetal shoot order, branch height and rPAR at the branch. Randomization tests revealed that shoots became NB and dead in clusters of connected shoots. In particular, shoot clusters originating from 3-year-old shoots were more likely to die than expected if each shoot was assumed to become NB regardless of the connection. Stepwise logistic regression revealed that the maximum rPAR within the crown of an individual tree had a significant effect on the mortality rate of 3-year-old shoot clusters, together with the rPAR at the level of the branch and other structural entities. Correlative inhibition is an important mechanism for determining shoot mortality patterns.