Habitat Fragmentation and Species Loss across Three Interacting Trophic Levels: Effects of Life-History and Food-Web Traits |
| |
Authors: | LUCIANO CAGNOLO§ ,GRACIELA VALLADARES,ADRIANA SALVO,MARCELO CABIDO&dagger , MARCELO ZAK&dagger &Dagger |
| |
Affiliation: | Centro de Investigaciones Entomológicas de Córdoba (IMBIV-CONICET), FCEFyN, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Avenida Vélez Sarsfield 1611 (X5016GCA), Cordoba, Argentina;Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (IMBIV-CONICET) and Cátedra de Biogeografía, FCEFyN, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Avenida Vélez Sarsfield 299 (5000), Cordoba, Argentina;Cátedra de Recursos Naturales y Gestión Ambiental, Licenciado en Geografía, FFyH, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, CC 495 (5000), Cordoba, Argentina |
| |
Abstract: | Abstract: Not all species are likely to be equally affected by habitat fragmentation; thus, we evaluated the effects of size of forest remnants on trophically linked communities of plants, leaf-mining insects, and their parasitoids. We explored the possibility of differential vulnerability to habitat area reduction in relation to species-specific and food-web traits by comparing species–area regression slopes. Moreover, we searched for a synergistic effect of these traits and of trophic level . We collected mined leaves and recorded plant, leaf miner, and parasitoid species interactions in five 100-m2 transects in 19 Chaco Serrano woodland remnants in central Argentina. Species were classified into extreme categories according to body size, natural abundance, trophic breadth, and trophic level . Species–area slopes differed between groups with extreme values of natural abundance or trophic specialization. Nevertheless, synergistic effects of life-history and food-web traits were only found for trophic level and trophic breadth: area-related species loss was highest for specialist parasitoids. It has been suggested that species position within interaction webs could determine their vulnerability to extinction. Our results provide evidence that food-web parameters, such as trophic level and trophic breadth, affect species sensitivity to habitat fragmentation . |
| |
Keywords: | body size leaf miners natural abundance parasitoids species–area relationship species loss trophic breadth trophic level |
|
|