Register      Login
International Journal of Wildland Fire International Journal of Wildland Fire Society
Journal of the International Association of Wildland Fire
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Dispersal-limited detritivores in fire-prone environments: persistence and population structure of terrestrial amphipods (Talitridae)

L. Menz A , H. Gibb A and N. P. Murphy A B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Ecology, Environment and Evolution, La Trobe University, Kingsbury Drive, Bundoora, Vic. 3086, Australia.

B Corresponding author. Email: n.murphy@latrobe.edu.au

International Journal of Wildland Fire 25(7) 753-761 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF15005
Submitted: 12 January 2015  Accepted: 6 March 2016   Published: 20 June 2016

Abstract

Invertebrate detritivores play a critical role in the decomposition of litter, an important component of wildfire fuel. Knowledge of invertebrate response to fire is often hampered by taxonomic resolution; however, genetic species identification can enable analysis of fine-scale assemblages and the interaction between dispersal and population recovery. In this study, we ask: do terrestrial amphipod assemblages differ following increasing fire severities and does population structure indicate in situ survival or recolonisation following severe fires? Using seven replicate sites over three fire severities, we measured amphipod abundance at the site of the catastrophic 2009 ‘Black Saturday’ fires in south-east Australia. Genetic analyses to distinguish species and population structure revealed 16 species. Populations of Arcitalitrus sylvaticus were highly structured, suggesting limited dispersal. Amphipod abundance and species richness were not affected by fire severity 3 years after fire. Localised population structure within A. sylvaticus suggests that in situ survival enabled amphipods to repopulate severely burnt sites. The genetic analyses used in this study enabled the detection of unrecognised diversity and population structure in these detritivores. With many detritivores showing similar life history strategies, studies that combine a genetic and ecological approach are essential for understanding the impact of fire on litter decomposition.

Additional keywords: detritivore, diversity, ecology, fire, invertebrate, population genetics.


References

Abbott I (1984) Changes in the abundance and activity of certain soil and litter fauna in the jarrah forest of Western Australia after a moderate-intensity fire. Soil Research 22, 463–469.
Changes in the abundance and activity of certain soil and litter fauna in the jarrah forest of Western Australia after a moderate-intensity fire.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Andersen AN, Muller WJ (2000) Arthropod responses to experimental fire regimes in an Australian tropical savannah: ordinal‐level analysis. Austral Ecology 25, 199–209.
Arthropod responses to experimental fire regimes in an Australian tropical savannah: ordinal‐level analysis.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Animal Genomics Laboratory (2001 ) Extraction of DNA from tissue: high salt method. Available from https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/~kempsj/IsolationofDNA.pdf [Verified 16 June 2016]

Ashton DH (1975) Studies of litter in Eucalyptus regnans forests. Australian Journal of Botany 23, 413–433.
Studies of litter in Eucalyptus regnans forests.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DyaE2MXlslOgtb4%3D&md5=cc7a2981b882e43bc9db723102f2e4f9CAS |

Bartoń, K (2015) MuMIn: multi-model inference. R package version, 1(5). Available from https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/MuMIn/index.html [Verified 19 April 2016]

Bengtsson J (2002) Disturbance and resilience in soil animal communities. European Journal of Soil Biology 38, 119–125.
Disturbance and resilience in soil animal communities.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Bowman DM, Balch JK, Artaxo P, Bond WJ, Carlson JM, Cochrane MA, D’Antonio CM, DeFries RS, Doyle JC, Harrison SP (2009) Fire in the Earth system. Science 324, 481–484.
Fire in the Earth system.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD1MXkvVGmtb8%3D&md5=780bfbd84d8f3d0390bfe1cab7be1fd6CAS | 19390038PubMed |

Bradstock RA (2010) A biogeographic model of fire regimes in Australia: current and future implications. Global Ecology and Biogeography 19, 145–158.
A biogeographic model of fire regimes in Australia: current and future implications.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Brennan KE, Christie FJ, York A (2009) Global climate change and litter decomposition: more frequent fire slows decomposition and increases the functional importance of invertebrates. Global Change Biology 15, 2958–2971.
Global climate change and litter decomposition: more frequent fire slows decomposition and increases the functional importance of invertebrates.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Burnham KP, Anderson DR (2002) ‘Model selection and multimodel inference: a practical information-theoretical approach’, 2nd edn. (Springer-Verlag: New York)

Carstens BC, Pelletier TA, Reid NM, Satler JD (2013) How to fail at species delimitation. Molecular Ecology 22, 4369–4383.
How to fail at species delimitation.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 23855767PubMed |

Cary G, Bradstock R, Williams J, Gill A (2002) Importance of a changing climate for fire regimes in Australia. In ‘Flammable Australia: the fire regimes and biodiversity of a continent’. (Eds RA Bradstock, JE Williams, MA Gill) pp. 26–46. (University Press: Cambridge, UK)

Clark D (1954) The ecology of the soil fauna in a rain forest with special reference to the amphipod Talitrus sylvaticus (Haswell). PhD thesis, University of Sydney.

Drummond AJ, Rambaut A (2007) BEAST: Bayesian evolutionary analysis by sampling trees. BMC Evolutionary Biology 7, 214
BEAST: Bayesian evolutionary analysis by sampling trees.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 17996036PubMed |

Folmer O, Black M, Hoeh W, Lutz R, Vrijenoek R (1994) DNA primers for amplification of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 from diverse metazoan invertebrates. Molecular Marine Biology and Biotechnology 3, 294–299.

Friend JA (1975) A study of energy flow through a natural population of euterrestrial amphipods. Honours Thesis, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tas.

Friend JA, Richardson A (1977) A preliminary study of niche partition in two Tasmanian terrestrial amphipod species. Ecological Bulletins 25, 24–35. [Verified 23 March 2016]http://www.jstor.org/stable/20112562

Friend JA, Richardson A (1986) Biology of terrestrial amphipods. Annual Review of Entomology 31, 25–48.
Biology of terrestrial amphipods.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Gonzalez G, Seastedt TR (2001) Soil fauna and plant litter decomposition in tropical and subalpine forests. Ecology 82, 955–964.
Soil fauna and plant litter decomposition in tropical and subalpine forests.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Hansen JD (1986) Comparison of insects from burned and unburned areas after a range fire. Western North American Naturalist 46, 721–727.

Hanula JL, Wade DD (2003) Influence of long-term dormant-season burning and fire exclusion on ground-dwelling arthropod populations in longleaf pine flatwoods ecosystems. Forest Ecology and Management 175, 163–184.
Influence of long-term dormant-season burning and fire exclusion on ground-dwelling arthropod populations in longleaf pine flatwoods ecosystems.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Hurley D (1959) Notes on the ecology and environmental adaptations of the terrestrial Amphipoda. Pacific Science 13, 107–129.

Joly S, Davies TJ, Archambault A, Bruneau A, Derry A, Kembel SW, Wheeler TA (2014) Ecology in the age of DNA barcoding: the resource, the promise and the challenges ahead. Molecular Ecology Resources 14, 221–232.
Ecology in the age of DNA barcoding: the resource, the promise and the challenges ahead.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BC2cXjt1Sksbc%3D&md5=84b62cd76deb56c3eec68aa6160cddd2CAS | 24118947PubMed |

Lussenhop J (1992) Mechanisms of microarthropod–microbial interactions in soil. Advances in Ecological Research 23, 1–33.
Mechanisms of microarthropod–microbial interactions in soil.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

McKenzie D, Gedalof Z, Peterson DL, Mote P (2004) Climatic change, wildfire, and conservation. Conservation Biology 18, 890–902.
Climatic change, wildfire, and conservation.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Moretti M, Duelli P, Obrist MK (2006) Biodiversity and resilience of arthropod communities after fire disturbance in temperate forests. Oecologia 149, 312–327.
Biodiversity and resilience of arthropod communities after fire disturbance in temperate forests.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 16804704PubMed |

Neary DG, Klopatek CC, DeBano LF, Ffolliott PF (1999) Fire effects on belowground sustainability: a review and synthesis. Forest Ecology and Management 122, 51–71.
Fire effects on belowground sustainability: a review and synthesis.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Neumann F, Tolhurst K (1991) Effects of fuel reduction burning on epigeal arthropods and earthworms in dry sclerophyll eucalypt forest of west‐central Victoria. Australian Journal of Ecology 16, 315–330.
Effects of fuel reduction burning on epigeal arthropods and earthworms in dry sclerophyll eucalypt forest of west‐central Victoria.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

New T, Yen A, Sands D, Greenslade P, Neville P, York A, Collett N (2010) Planned fires and invertebrate conservation in south-east Australia. Journal of Insect Conservation 14, 567–574.
Planned fires and invertebrate conservation in south-east Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

O’Hanlon RP, Bolger T (1999) The importance of Arcitalitrus dorrieni (Hunt) (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Talitridae) in coniferous litter breakdown. Applied Soil Ecology 11, 29–33.
The importance of Arcitalitrus dorrieni (Hunt) (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Talitridae) in coniferous litter breakdown.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Pons J, Barraclough TG, Gomez-Zurita J, Cardoso A, Duran DP, Hazell S, Kamoun S, Sumlin WD, Vogler AP (2006) Sequence-based species delimitation for the DNA taxonomy of undescribed insects. Systematic Biology 55, 595–609.
Sequence-based species delimitation for the DNA taxonomy of undescribed insects.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 16967577PubMed |

Pryke JS, Samways MJ (2012) Importance of using many taxa and having adequate controls for monitoring impacts of fire for arthropod conservation. Journal of Insect Conservation 16, 177–185.
Importance of using many taxa and having adequate controls for monitoring impacts of fire for arthropod conservation.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Purdie R (1977) Early stages of regeneration after burning in dry sclerophyll vegetation. I. Regeneration of the understorey by vegetative means. Australian Journal of Botany 25, 21–34.
Early stages of regeneration after burning in dry sclerophyll vegetation. I. Regeneration of the understorey by vegetative means.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

R Core Team (2011). R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. Available at http://www.R-project.org/ [Verified 19 April 2016]

Ripley B, Venables B, Bates DM, Hornik K, Gebhardt A, Firth D, Ripley MB (2015) R package ‘MASS’. Available at https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/MASS/index.html [Verified 19 April 2016]

Schmuki C, Vorburger C, Runciman D, Maceachern S, Sunnucks P (2006) When log‐dwellers meet loggers: impacts of forest fragmentation on two endemic log‐dwelling beetles in south-eastern Australia. Molecular Ecology 15, 1481–1492.
When log‐dwellers meet loggers: impacts of forest fragmentation on two endemic log‐dwelling beetles in south-eastern Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD28XlsVCjurc%3D&md5=ae117e49e368ccece460b2b866bfcc05CAS | 16629805PubMed |

Seastedt T (1984) The role of microarthropods in decomposition and mineralization processes. Annual Review of Entomology 29, 25–46.
The role of microarthropods in decomposition and mineralization processes.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Seastedt T, Hayes D, Petersen N (1986) Effects of vegetation, burning and mowing on soil macroarthropods of tallgrass prairie. In ‘Proceedings of the Ninth North American Prairie Conference’, 19 July–1 August, Moorhead, MN. Tri-College University Center for Environmental Studies. (Fargo, ND)

Spicer J, Moore P, Taylor A (1987) The physiological ecology of land invasion by the Talitridae (Crustacea: Amphipoda). Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences 232, 95–124.
The physiological ecology of land invasion by the Talitridae (Crustacea: Amphipoda).Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Tajima F (1989) Statistical method for testing the neutral mutation hypothesis by DNA polymorphism. Genetics 123, 585–595.

Teasdale LC, Smith AL, Thomas M, Whitehead CA, Driscoll DA (2013) Detecting invertebrate responses to fire depends on sampling method and taxonomic resolution. Austral Ecology 38, 874–883.
Detecting invertebrate responses to fire depends on sampling method and taxonomic resolution.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Thomas CD (2000) Dispersal and extinction in fragmented landscapes. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences 267, 139–145.
Dispersal and extinction in fragmented landscapes.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:STN:280:DC%2BD3c7ltVGhtA%3D%3D&md5=4f573ef4de49aef9e11cdfcefc051a40CAS |

Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission (2009) The 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission final report. Available at http://www.royalcommission.vic.gov.au/Commission-Reports/Final-Report.html [Verified 12 May 2016]

Walsh PS, Metzger DA, Higuchi R (1991) Chelex 100 as a medium for simple extraction of DNA for PCR-based typing from forensic material. BioTechniques 10, 506–513.

Wardle DA, Hörnberg G, Zackrisson O, Kalela-Brundin M, Coomes DA (2003) Long-term effects of wildfire on ecosystem properties across an island area gradient. Science 300, 972–975.
Long-term effects of wildfire on ecosystem properties across an island area gradient.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD3sXjsVyjsrs%3D&md5=b7be5eb7508d38ce0a3d2192d37ab097CAS | 12738863PubMed |

Whelan R, Rodgerson L, Dickman CR, Sutherland EF (2002) Critical life cycles of plants and animals: developing a process-based understanding of population changes in fire-prone landscapes. In ‘Flammable Australia: the fire regimes and biodiversity of a continent’. (Eds RA Bradstock, JE Williams, AM Gill) pp. 94–124. (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK)

Whelan RJ (1995) ‘The ecology of fire.’ (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK)

White JD, Ryan KC, Key CC, Running SW (1996) Remote sensing of forest fire severity and vegetation recovery. International Journal of Wildland Fire 6, 125–136.
Remote sensing of forest fire severity and vegetation recovery.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Williams AA, Karoly DJ, Tapper N (2001) The sensitivity of Australian fire danger to climate change. Climatic Change 49, 171–191.
The sensitivity of Australian fire danger to climate change.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD3MXktVOht7c%3D&md5=d0a73fc37b8f803f41b495563bd6fa79CAS |

Yang G, Di X-y, Guo Q-x, Shu Z, Zeng T, Yu H-z, Wang C (2011) The impact of climate change on forest fire danger rating in China’s boreal forest. Journal of Forest Research 22, 249–257.
The impact of climate change on forest fire danger rating in China’s boreal forest.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

York A (1999) Long-term effects of frequent low-intensity burning on the abundance of litter-dwelling invertebrates in coastal blackbutt forests of south-eastern Australia. Journal of Insect Conservation 3, 191–199.
Long-term effects of frequent low-intensity burning on the abundance of litter-dwelling invertebrates in coastal blackbutt forests of south-eastern Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |