Consumer biodiversity increases organic nutrient availability across aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems

Human land-use intensification threatens arthropod (for example, insect and spider) biodiversity across aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Insects and spiders play critical roles in ecosystems by accumulating and synthesizing organic nutrients such as polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). However, l...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2024-10, Vol.386 (6719), p.335-340
Main Authors: Shipley, J Ryan, Oester, Rebecca, Mathieu-Resuge, Margaux, Parmar, Tarn Preet, Kowarik, Carmen, Ilíć, Maja, Kainz, Martin J, Martin-Creuzburg, Dominik, Obrist, Martin K, Graham, Catherine H, Gossner, Martin M, Matthews, Blake, Twining, Cornelia W
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Aquatic ecosystems
Aquatic environment
Biodiversity
Biomass
Conservation of Natural Resources
Ecological function
Ecosystems
Fatty Acids, Unsaturated - metabolism
Insecta - metabolism
Insects
Land use
Nutrient availability
Nutrient concentrations
Nutrients
Nutrients - analysis
Nutrients - metabolism
Plant communities
Polyunsaturated fatty acids
Species richness
Spiders - metabolism
Terrestrial ecosystems
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Summary:Human land-use intensification threatens arthropod (for example, insect and spider) biodiversity across aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Insects and spiders play critical roles in ecosystems by accumulating and synthesizing organic nutrients such as polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). However, links between biodiversity and nutrient content of insect and spider communities have yet to be quantified. We relate insect and spider richness to biomass and PUFA-mass from stream and terrestrial communities encompassing nine land uses. PUFA-mass and biomass relate positively to biodiversity across ecosystems. In terrestrial systems, human-dominated areas have lower biomass and PUFA-mass than more natural areas, even at equivalent levels of richness. Aquatic ecosystems have consistently higher PUFA-mass than terrestrial ecosystems. Our findings reinforce the importance of conserving biodiversity and highlight the distinctive benefits of aquatic biodiversity.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.adp6198