Biology subjects

Lira Dyson, B.

Publications and source records attributed to Lira Dyson, B..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

The Invisible Heterogeneity of a Forest -- Beta Diversity of Volatiles

Forest structural heterogeneity affects biodiversity, yet how changes in forest structure influence the spatial patterns of forest chemical heterogeneity remains poorly understood. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) create invisible chemical landscapes that influence forest ecosystem processes, but whether VOC {beta}-diversity patterns respond to silviculture or disturbance caused heterogeneity remains unknown. We quantified how enhanced structural beta complexity (ESBC) treatments affect VOC {beta}-diversity patterns and investigated potential drivers and ecological effects in temperate production forests. Using the experimental BETA-FOR framework, we sampled ambient forest air at the forest floor and 1 m heights across 234 forest patches in six German regions using Tenax/Carboxen adsorbent traps analyzed via TD-GCMS. Results from generalized linear beta regression models showed that {beta}-diversity of VOCs increased significantly at 1 m height in ESBC forests compared to control forests, but this increase was not significant at the forest floor. In contrast to studies on plants, fungi and animals, the main driver for increasing beta-diversity in VOCs was not the heterogeneity of canopy openness, but the amount of deadwood. Using saproxylic beetles as a test group, we found that saproxylic beetle community dissimilarity increased with VOC dissimilarity, but only for forest floor VOCs. Our finding adds a new component to the framework of habitat heterogeneity, the invisible gradient of volatile diversity utilized by many forest organisms. Furthermore, we provide the first evidence that enhancing the heterogeneity of forests, and particularly of the dead wood, increase not only the structural heterogeneity but also the volatile {beta}-diversity.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2025

Experimentally manipulating forest structure to mimic management strategies: effects on deadwood fungal diversity and related ecosystem processes

Understanding the relationships between forest management, biodiversity, and ecosystem processes is necessary for achieving multifunctionality. Deadwood fungi are extremely diverse and important for carbon turnover in forests. However, how forest structure, resulting from management, affects deadwood fungal diversity and decomposition is not well known. We experimentally tested the effects of microclimate (via canopy cover) and deadwood enrichment (snags, logs, tree crowns, and habitat trees) on fungal diversity. Further, we assessed the effects of the treatments and fungal diversity on wood mass loss. We characterized the fungal communities of Fagus sylvatica (European beech) and Pinus sylvestris (Scots pine) deadwood via metabarcoding and measured wood mass loss after 3 years. We found that the host tree species was more important than canopy cover or deadwood enrichment for fungal alpha and beta diversity. Fungal alpha diversity of beech was mainly related to canopy cover; diversity of beech was higher under closed canopies. While alpha diversity of pine was related only to deadwood enrichment as diversity increased where habitat trees and crowns remained. Furthermore, while mass loss of beech was significantly higher in patches where trees were removed and patches where crowns remained, pine mass loss was neither affected by canopy cover nor deadwood enrichment. Host tree diversity is more important than environmental variability as a determinant of fungal diversity, underpinning the importance of maintaining diverse hosts in forests. However, contrasting diversity and decomposition effects between beech and pine suggest the need for forest management strategies tailored to tree species to maintain fungal diversity and ecosystem processes.

ecology↗