Data from: Biodiversity in agricultural landscapes: the effect of apple cultivar on epiphyte diversity

In natural systems, extended phenotypes of trees can be important in determining the species composition and diversity of associated communities. Orchards are productive systems where trees dominate, and can be highly biodiverse, but few studies have considered the importance of tree genetic background in promoting associated biodiversity. We tested the effect of apple cultivar (plant genetic background) on the diversity and composition of the associated epiphytic bryophyte community across a total of seven cultivars in five productive East Anglian orchards where each orchard contained two cultivars. Data were collected from 617 individual trees, over 5 years. Species richness and community composition were significantly influenced by both orchard and cultivar. Differences among orchards explained 16% of the variation in bryophyte community data, while cultivar explained 4%. For 13 of the 41 bryophyte species recorded, apple cultivar was an important factor in explaining their distribution. While the effects of cultivar were small, we were able to detect them at multiple levels of analysis. We provide evidence that extended phenotypes act in productive as well as natural systems. With issues of food security ranking high on the international agenda, it is important to understand the impact of production regimes on associated biodiversity. Our results can inform mitigation of this potential conflict.

在自然生态系统中，树木的扩展表型（extended phenotypes）在决定伴生群落的物种组成与多样性方面发挥着关键作用。果园是以树木为优势物种的生产性系统，本身具备极高的生物多样性潜力，但目前鲜有研究关注树木遗传背景对促进伴生生物多样性的重要意义。本研究针对东安格利亚地区5座商业化果园展开实验，探究苹果品种（植物遗传背景）对其伴生附生苔藓植物群落多样性与组成的影响：每座果园均种植2个苹果品种，实验共涵盖7个苹果品种。研究团队为期5年，共采集了617棵单株树木的相关数据。分析结果显示，物种丰富度与群落组成均受到果园环境与苹果品种的显著影响。果园间的差异可解释苔藓植物群落数据16%的变异量，而苹果品种的解释度为4%。在记录到的41种苔藓植物中，有13个物种的分布格局显著受苹果品种调控。尽管品种效应的幅度相对较小，但本研究可通过多维度分析检测到该效应的存在。本研究证实，扩展表型不仅在自然生态系统中发挥作用，在人工生产性系统中同样具备调控效应。当前粮食安全议题在国际议程中占据核心地位，理解农业生产模式对伴生生物多样性的影响具有重要现实意义。本研究结果可为缓解这一潜在的生产与生物多样性保护冲突提供科学依据。