Congruent responses of vascular plant and ant communities to pastoral land-use abandonment in mountain areas throughout different biogeographic regions  

作　　者：Marcello Verdinelli Marco Pittarello Maria Carmela Caria Giovanna Piga Pier Paolo Roggero Gian Marco Marrosu Stefano Arrizza Maria Leonarda Fadda Giampiero Lombardi Michele Lonati Ginevra Nota Maria Sitzia Simonetta Bagella 

机构地区：[1]Institute of BioEconomy(CNR IBE),National Research Council of Italy,07100 Sassari,Italy [2]Department of Agricultural,Forest,and Food Science(DIS-AFA),University of Torino,Torino,Italy [3]Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy,University of Sassari,07100 Sassari,Italy [4]Department of Agricultural Sciences,University of Sassari,07100 Sassari,Italy [5]Desertification Research Center,University of Sassari,07100 Sassari,Italy [6]AGRIS Sardegna,Loc.Bonassai,07100 Sassari,Italy

出　　处：《Ecological Processes》2022年第1期469-482,共14页生态过程（英文）

摘　　要：Background:There is a long-term trend towards the abandonment of agro-pastoral activities in the mountain areas of Europe:the following encroachment process of semi-natural grasslands by shrubs is one of the main severe threats to the conservation of biodiversity in mountain environments.To better understand the impact of land abandonment,we analysed the reliability of plant functional groups,ant traits,and ant functional groups as indicators of land use changes.We carried out the research in Italy at four sites along a latitudinal/altitudinal gradient in three biogeo-graphic regions(Mediterranean,Continental,Alpine).We identified three stages of a chronosequence at each site as representative of the plant succession in response to pastoral land-use abandonment.Results:As expected,both the plant and ant assemblages considerably differed across sites at the species level and,within each site,among the three stages.This trend was found also using ant traits,functional groups of ants,and plant functional groups.Ant and plant communities were related in terms of composition and functionality.Harvester ants and ants with collective foraging strategy were associated with annual legumes and grasses(Therophytes);ants with a strictly individual foraging strategy with Phanerophytes.Ant traits and plant functional groups indicated significant differences among the three stages of the chronosequence.However,ant functional groups could not discriminate between the stages represented by secondary grasslands currently grazed and shrub-encroached grasslands ungrazed.Conclusion:Despite some limitations of ant functional groups in explaining the succession stages of land abandonment,our results suggest that ants are a good surrogate taxon and might be used as bioindicators of land-use changes and ecosystem functioning.Furthermore,our findings indicate that the functional group approach should be applied to other European ecosystems.Finally,reducing the taxonomic complexity could contribute to developing predictive models to detect

关 键 词：Biodiversity conservation BIOINDICATORS Cross-taxon congruence Functional groups Land abandonment Monitoring Mountain pastures 

分 类 号：Q94[生物学—植物学]