Sap-feeding Insect Communities as Indicators of Habitat Fragmentation and Nutrient Subsidies |
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Authors: | Jes?Hines author-information" > author-information__contact u-icon-before" > mailto:hines@umd.edu" title=" hines@umd.edu" itemprop=" email" data-track=" click" data-track-action=" Email author" data-track-label=" " >Email author,Margaret E.?Lynch,Robert F.?Denno |
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Affiliation: | (1) Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, 4112 Plant Sciences Building, 20742 College Park, MD, USA |
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Abstract: | Upland salt marsh vegetation is particularly prone to habitat fragmentation and nutrient run-off due to coastal development and nearby agriculture. By examining how communities of sap-feeding insects respond to natural variation in plant-patch size and an experimental nutrient addition we explored how species with particular life history traits (e.g. dispersal ability and over-wintering style) might be used to indicate the effects of habitat fragmentation (patch area) and nitrogen subsidies on food webs. Sap-feeders that were superior dispersers or over-wintered in concealed microhabitats persisted well in small patch sizes. In contrast, species that were both immobile and over-wintered in exposed stages were more sensitive to decreasing patch size. Furthermore, mobile sap-feeders colonized and established populations on nitrogen-subsidized patches more rapidly than less mobile taxa. Thus, patterns in community composition (mobile vs. sedentary sap-feeders) can be used as key indicators of both habitat fragmentation and allochthanous nitrogen subsidies. Both patch size and nutrient subsidy altered trophic structure with a higher predator to herbivore ratio occurring in small compared to large patches and in control compared to nitrogen-subsidized habitats where herbivore outbreaks occurred. Our data suggest that conserving large habitat patches and minimizing nitrogen input is critical for maintaining sap-feeder diversity and preserving food-web structure. |
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Keywords: | Dispersal Habitat fragmentation Life-history strategy Nutrient subsidy Sap-feeder |
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