Seasonal dynamics of arthropod communities during horse dung decomposition in Inner Mongolian grasslands

doi:10.17520/biods.2024018

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims: Ground-active arthropods play a crucial role in the decomposition of organic material in terrestrial ecosystems, yet little is known about how seasonal variations influence dung arthropod communities.
Methods: This study conducted a field experiment in Inner Mongolian grasslands to investigate the composition dynamics of the arthropod communities in horse dung excreted during different seasons and analyze their relationship with environmental factors.
Results: We found that: (1) Initial water content did not significantly differ across spring, summer, and autumn, but organic matter content was significantly lower in summer dung compared to spring and autumn, while pH was significantly lower in autumn compared to spring and summer. (2) Abundance and group numbers of dung arthropods were significantly higher in autumn horse dung on day 3 and 360 of the decomposition compared to spring horse dung. Similarly, the abundance and species number of dung beetle communities on day 3 and 7 of the decomposition were significantly higher in autumn dung compared to summer. Abundance and generic numbers of Staphylinidae were also substantially higher in autumn dung on day 3 and 7 of the decomposition compared to spring and summer.
Conclusion: Early stage decomposition of horse dung is influenced by organic matter and water content, shaping arthropod community composition. Later stages of decomposition are predominantly regulated by soil temperature and moisture. These findings provide a foundation for further research on the complex interplay between seasonal factors and arthropod dynamics during dung decomposition in Inner Mongolian grasslands.

Key words: arthropods, community dynamics, seasons, dung decomposition, Inner Mongolian grasslands

Jianwei Cheng, Manhou Xu, Yongjing Dou, Yadong Wang, Yanan Wang, Xinmin Liu, Frank Yonghong Li. Seasonal dynamics of arthropod communities during horse dung decomposition in Inner Mongolian grasslands[J]. Biodiv Sci, 2024, 32(6): 24018.

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URL: https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/10.17520/biods.2024018

https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/Y2024/V32/I6/24018

Figures/Tables 11

Fig. 1 Field arrangement (A) and sampling scheme (B) of the horse dung decomposition experiment in different seasons. SPD, Horse dung in spring; SUD, Horse dung in summer; AUD, Horse dung in autumn.

Fig. 2 Monthly precipitation (bars) and mean air temperature (line) in the experimental period

Fig. 3 Changes in the physical and chemical properties of horse dung in different seasons. The dashed line indicates no sampling at the time period. The significant differences between seasons at P < 0.05 are denoted using * (one-way ANOVA with Duncan’s multiple-range tests for post hoc comparisons).

Fig. 4 Changes in the abundance (A) and group number (B) of arthropod communities in horse dung in different seasons. The dashed line indicates no sampling at the time period. The significant differences between seasons at P < 0.05 are denoted using * (one-way ANOVA with Duncan’s multiple-range tests for post hoc comparisons).

Fig. 5 Relative proportions of abundance of functional groups of arthropods in horse dung in different seasons during the early (A) and late stages (B) of decomposition

Table 1 Composition of dung beetle communities in the horse dung in different seasons

物种 Species	春季 Spring		夏季 Summer		秋季 Autumn
物种 Species	多度 Abundance (N)	优势度 Dominance (%)	多度 Abundance (N)	优势度 Dominance (%)	多度 Abundance (N)	优势度 Dominance (%)
双顶嗡蜣螂 Onthophagus bivertex	6	0.19	1	0.14	7	0.18
小驼嗡蜣螂 Onthophagus gibbulus	2	0.06	42	5.80	173	4.33
黑缘嗡蜣螂 Onthophagus marginalis nigrimargo	4	0.13			1	0.03
立叉嗡蜣螂 Onthophagus olsoufieffi					4	0.09
游荡蜉金龟 Aphodius erraticus	1	0.03
直蜉金龟 Aphodius rectus					3,733	93.38
马粪蜉金龟 Aphodius subterraneus	1	0.03			1	0.03
泥蜉金龟 Aphodius sordescens	2,647	85.41	672	93.79	3	0.08
符号蜉金龟 Aphodius comma	435	14.04
布尔蜉金龟 Aphodius burgaltaicus					76	1.89
甫拉蜉金龟 Aphodius praeustus			1	0.14
Aphodius insularis			1	0.14
Aphodius corallifer	1	0.03
Aphodius chinensis	2	0.06
个体数 No. of individuals	3,099		717		3,998
物种数 Species richness	9		5		8

Fig. 6 Changes in the abundance (A) and species richness (B) of dung beetle communities in the horse dung in different seasons. The dashed line indicates no sampling at the time period. The significant differences between seasons at P < 0.05 are denoted using * (one-way ANOVA with Duncan’s multiple-range tests for post hoc comparisons).

Table 2 Composition of Staphylinidae community in horse dung in different seasons

亚科 Subfamily	属 Genus	春季 Spring		夏季 Summer		秋季 Autumn
亚科 Subfamily	属 Genus	多度 Abundance (N)	优势度 Dominance (%)	多度 Abundance (N)	优势度 Dominance (%)	多度 Abundance (N)	优势度 Dominance (%)
前角隐翅虫亚科 Aleocharinae	Ocalea	15	22.39			16	6.11
前角隐翅虫亚科 Aleocharinae	Oxypoda	9	13.43	5	5.33	81	31.19
	Parapimela	6	8.96			68	26.18
	Silusa			45	48.04	71	27.34
	Aleachara	6	8.96	6	6.40	1	0.51
胸片隐翅虫亚科 Xantholininae	Saurohypnus			5	5.05
异形隐翅虫亚科 Oxytelinae	Neoxus	3	4.48
异形隐翅虫亚科 Oxytelinae	Oncoparia	3	4.48
	Oxytelopsis	9	13.43
	背筋隐翅虫属 Oxytelus	13	19.40	24	25.59	21	7.90
	Sartallus					1	0.39
	粪隐翅虫属 Coprophilus	3	4.48	9	9.59
隐翅虫亚科 Staphylinidae	Staphylinaus					1	0.39
个体数 No. of individuals		67		94		260
属数 No. of genus		9		6		8

Fig. 7 Changes in the abundance (A) and genera number (B) of Staphylinidae community in the horse dung in different seasons. The dashed line indicates no sampling at the time period. The significant differences between seasons at P < 0.05 are denoted using * (one-way ANOVA with Duncan’s multiple-range tests for post hoc comparisons).

Table 3 Relative contribution of partial redundancy analysis of environmental factors to composition of arthropods community

分解阶段 Decomposition stage	变量 Variable	贡献率 Contribution (%)	F	P
早期 Early stage	粪有机质含量 Dung organic matter content	29.8	18.249	0.002
	粪含水量 Dung water content	17.6	9.181	0.006
	土壤温度 Soil temperature	8.1	3.787	0.062
	土壤湿度 Soil moisture content	3.6	1.611	0.212
	粪的pH值 Dung pH	0.7	0.283	0.686
	第一排序轴显著性蒙特卡洛置换检验 Monte-Carlo permutation test for significance of the first ordinal axis	F = 22.32, P = 0.002
	所有排序轴显著性蒙特卡洛置换检验 Monte-Carlo permutation test for significance of all ordinal axes	F = 4.93, P = 0.002
后期 Late stage	粪有机质含量 Dung organic matter content	6.5	2.98	0.066
	粪含水量 Dung water content	6.2	2.83	0.102
	土壤温度 Soil temperature	9.5	4.53	0.014
	土壤湿度 Soil moisture content	12.5	6.15	0.002
	粪的pH值 Dung pH	0.9	0.397	0.592
	第一排序轴显著性蒙特卡洛置换检验 Monte-Carlo permutation test for significance of the first ordinal axis	F = 13.39, P = 0.026
	所有排序轴显著性蒙特卡洛置换检验 Monte-Carlo permutation test for significance of all ordinal axes	F = 3.762, P = 0.004

Fig. 8 RDA two-dimensional diagram of the relationship between arthropods and environmental factors at early (A) and late (B) decomposition of horse dung. DOC, Dung organic matter content; DW, Dung water content; ST, Soil temperature; SW, Soil moisture content; DPH, Dung pH; 1, Enchytraeidae; 2, Geophilidae; 3, Scutacaridae; 4, Parholaspidae; 5, Laelapidae; 6, Uropodoidea; 7, Gamasida; 8, Nanorchestidae; 9, Cryptognathidae; 10, Bdellidae; 11, Trombidiidae; 12, Erythraeidae; 13, Actinedida; 14, Oppidae; 15, Ceratozetidae; 16, Zetorchestidae; 17, Thomisidae; 18, Gnaphosidae; 19, Lycosidae; 20, Liocranidae; 21, Entomobryidae; 22, Sminthuridae; 23, Hypogastruridae; 24, Isotomidae; 25, Phlaeothripidae; 26, Thysanoptera; 27, Formicidae; 28, Eulophidae; 29, Bethylidae; 30, Hymenoptera; 31, Chalcidoidea; 32, Liposcelidae; 33, Scarabaeidae; 34, Aphodiidae; 35, Melolonthidae; 36, Tenebrionidae; 37, Oedemeridae; 38, Staphylinidae; 39, Anthicidae; 40, Ptiliidae; 41, Histeridae; 42, Hydrophilidae; 43, Lathridiidae; 44, Carabidae; 45, Ostomatidae; 46, Lygaeidae; 47, Calliphoridae; 48, Cyclorrhapha; 49, Coccoidea; 50, Noctuidae larvae; 51, Carabidae larvae; 52, Staphylinidae larvae; 53, Melolonthidae larvae; 54, Rutelidae larvae; 55, Aphodiidae larvae; 56, Tenebrionidae larvae; 57, Chrysomelidae larvae; 58, Elateridae larvae; 59, Muscidae larvae; 60, Calliphoridae larvae; 61, Syrphidae larvae; 62, Cecidomyiidae larvae; 63, Therevidae larvae; 64, Diptera larvae.

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