Resource stoichiometry and availability modulate species richness and biomass of tropical litter macro-invertebrates

1. The high biodiversity and biomass of soil communities is crucial for litter decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems such as tropical forests. However, the leaf litter that these communities consume is of particularly poor quality as indicated by elemental stoichiometry. The impact of resource quantity, quality, and other habitat parameters on species richness and biomass of consumer communities is often studied in isolation, although much can be learned from simultaneously studying both community characteristics.

2. Using a data set of 780 macro-invertebrate consumer species across 32 sites in tropical lowland rainforest and agricultural systems on Sumatra, Indonesia, we investigated the effects of basal resource stoichiometry (C:X ratios of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Na, S in local leaf litter), litter mass (basal resource quantity and habitat space), plant species richness (surrogate for litter habitat heterogeneity), and soil pH (acidity) on consumer species richness and biomass across d...

1. 土壤群落的高生物多样性与生物量，对于热带森林等陆地生态系统的枯落物分解过程至关重要。然而，这些群落所摄食的叶枯落物，其质量尤为低下，这一点可通过元素化学计量比（elemental stoichiometry）得到体现。以往研究往往单独探讨资源数量、质量及其他生境参数对消费者群落物种丰富度与生物量的影响，尽管同时考量两类群落特征可获得更多有价值的科学洞见。
2. 本研究依托印度尼西亚苏门答腊岛热带低地雨林与农业生态系统中共32个样点的780种大型无脊椎消费者物种数据集，针对基础资源化学计量比（本地叶枯落物中碳与氮、磷、钾、钙、镁、钠、硫的元素比值，即C:X）、枯落物质量（基础资源数量与生境空间）、植物物种丰富度（枯落物生境异质性的替代指标）以及土壤pH（酸度）对消费者群落物种丰富度与生物量的影响展开了探究，研究覆盖跨d...