Ecological succession shapes size–density scaling relationships of trees and soil invertebrates

Author:

Romera Poppy Joaquina12ORCID,Wallace Kiri Joy12ORCID,McCarthy James K.3ORCID,Rai Bibishan12,Mitchell Grace4ORCID,Eisenhauer Nico56ORCID,Lusk Christopher H.12ORCID,Barnes Andrew D.12ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Te Tumu Whakaora Taiao–Environmental Research Institute Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato–University of Waikato Hamilton New Zealand

2. Te Aka Mātuatua–School of Science Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato–University of Waikato Hamilton New Zealand

3. Manaaki Whenua–Landcare Research Lincoln New Zealand

4. Manaaki Whenua–Landcare Research Hamilton New Zealand

5. German Centre of Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Halle–Jena–Leipzig Leipzig Germany

6. Institute of Biology, Leipzig University Leipzig Germany

Abstract

Abstract The widely observed negative scaling relationship between organism size and abundance is predicted to have a universal −0.75 scaling exponent across all life forms. However, factors influencing frequently observed deviations from this exponent, such as ecosystem succession and organism traits, remain poorly understood. We explore the dependence of size–density scaling on ecosystem succession and organism traits by analysing size–density relationships in trees and soil invertebrates across 183 temperate forest plots comprising urban secondary forests, urban old‐growth forests and non‐urban natural forests. Exponents of scaling relationships in urban tree and invertebrate communities progressively steepened with increasing restored (planted) forest stand age as small organisms increased in abundance. In contrast, non‐urban tree scaling relationships flattened during succession with exponents veering away from −0.75, whereas urban tree and invertebrate communities converged towards this prediction in later successional stages. Our results shed light on how the body size structure of tree and soil invertebrate communities spanning multiple trophic levels shift over successional time as the relative abundances of large versus small‐bodied organisms increase. This study emphasises the fundamental influence of organismal traits and ecosystem succession on scaling relationships of organism body size and abundance. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Funder

Marsden Fund

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

Publisher

Wiley

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