Climate variability and drought modulate the role of structural refuges
for arthropods: a global experiment
- Gustavo Romero,
- Thiago Gonçalves-Souza,
- Tomas Roslin,
- Robert Marquis,
- Nicholas Marino,
- Vojtech Novotny,
- Tatiana Cornelissen,
- Jerome Orivel,
- Shen Sui,
- Gustavo Aires,
- Reuber Antoniazzi,
- Wesley Dattilo,
- Crasso Breviglieri,
- Annika Busse,
- Heloise Gibb,
- Thiago Izzo,
- Tomas Kadlec,
- Victoria Kemp,
- Monica Kersch-Becker,
- Michal Knapp,
- Pavel Kratina,
- Rebecca Luke,
- Stefan Majnarić ,
- Robin Maritz,
- Paulo Martins,
- Esayas Mendesil,
- Jaroslav Michalko,
- Anna Mrazova,
- Samuel Novais,
- Cássio Pereira,
- Mirela Perić,
- Jana Petermann,
- Servio Ribeiro,
- Katerina Sam,
- M. Kurtis Trzcinski,
- Camila Vieira,
- Natalie Westwood,
- Maria Bernaschini,
- Valentina Carvajal,
- Ezequiel González,
- Mariana Jausoro,
- Stanis Kaensin,
- Fabiola Ospina,
- Jacob CristĂłbal-PĂ©rez,
- Mauricio Quesada,
- Pierre Rogy,
- Diane Srivastava,
- Scarlett Szpryngiel,
- Ayco Tack,
- Tiit Teder,
- Martin Videla,
- Mari-Liis Viljur,
- Julia Koricheva
Vojtech Novotny
Institute of Entomology, Czech Academy of Sciences
Author ProfileTomas Kadlec
Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Faculty of Environmental Sciences
Author ProfileJaroslav Michalko
Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra
Author ProfileSamuel Novais
Universidad Nacional AutĂłnoma de MĂ©xico Escuela Nacional de Estudios Superiores Unidad Morelia
Author ProfileKaterina Sam
University of South Bohemia and Institute of Entomology
Author ProfileNatalie Westwood
The University of British Columbia Faculty of Science
Author ProfileMaria Bernaschini
Instituto Multidisciplinario de BiologĂa Vegetal
Author ProfileEzequiel González
University of Koblenz Landau Faculty 5 of Education
Author ProfileJacob CristĂłbal-PĂ©rez
Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad, Universidad Nacional AutĂłnoma de MĂ©xico.
Author ProfileMartin Videla
Instituto Multidisciplinario de BiologĂa Vegetal
Author ProfileAbstract
Current climate change is disrupting biotic interactions and eroding
biodiversity worldwide. However, species sensitive to drought, high
temperatures and climate variability might persist in microclimatic
refuges, such as leaf shelters built by arthropods. We conducted a
distributed experiment across an 11,790 km latitudinal gradient to
explore how the importance of leaf shelters for terrestrial arthropods
changes with latitude, elevation and underlying climate. Our analyses
revealed leaf shelters to be key facilitative elements for the diversity
of arthropods. Predator diversity and overall biomass within shelters
increased with local drought and temperature variability, regardless of
latitude and elevation. In contrast, shelter usage by herbivores
increased with abundance of predators on those same plants and in wetter
climates. Projected increase in climatic variability and drought in
certain geographic regions is therefore likely to enhance the importance
of biotic refuges, especially for predators, in mitigating the impact of
climate change on species persistence.