Plant phylogenetic diversity influences arthropod communities in tropical forest restoration plots

Consideration of plant phylogenetic diversity in ecological restoration carries substantial potential, as communities with a greater diversity of lineages with older evolutionary histories can increase the diversity of niches and thus are likely to recover larger species networks than communities clustered in specific clades with reduced variation in functional traits. In this study, we experimentally assessed how arthropod communities were affected by the phylogenetic diversity of a set of tropical tree species. We established 12 experimental restoration plots with either high or low plant phylogenetic diversity while maintaining constant the number of plant species. After 1 and 3 years, arthropods with different feeding habits (herbivores, predators, pollinators, and detritivores) were collected and identified as morphospecies or operational taxonomic units using metabarcoding techniques. We provide insights on the influence of plant phylogenetic diversity on arthropod abundance and species diversity, particularly among predator, pollinator, and detritivore common and dominant species, which increased with plant phylogenetic diversity. The trend, however, was the opposite for the diversity of herbivore common and dominant species, which decreased as plant phylogenetic diversity increased. These findings highlight the importance of considering plant species richness when designing restoration strategies, but also their evolutionary histories, as the same number of plant species can produce different outcomes for higher trophic levels, as a function of their phylogenetic relationships.Abstract in Spanish is available with online material. Considerar la diversidad filogenetica de las plantas en la restauracion ecologica tiene un potencial importante, ya que comunidades de especies pertenecientes a distintos linajes con historias evolutivas mas antiguas pueden incrementar la diversidad de nichos y tienen el potencial de recuperar redes de interaccion mas amplias que comunidades agrupadas dentro de clados con una menor variacion funcional. En este estudio evaluamos como las comunidades de artropodos son influenciadas por la diversidad filogenetica de especies de arboles tropicales. Realizamos un experimento en 12 parcelas de restauracion con alta o baja diversidad filogenetica de plantas. Despues de uno y tres anos de la siembra, colectamos artropodos con diferentes habitos alimentarios (herbivoros, depredadores, polinizadores y detritivoros), los cuales fueron identificados como morfoespecies y/o unidades taxonomicas operativas utilizando tecnicas de metagenomica. Reportamos una influencia positiva de la diversidad filogenetica de las plantas en la abundancia y diversidad de artropodos, particularmente de las especies comunes y dominantes de depredadores, polinizadores y detritivoros. En contraste, la diversidad de especies comunes y dominantes de herbivoros se redujo conforme la diversidad filogenetica de plantas aumento, lo que sugiere la colonizacion por especies raras en comunidades con alta diversidad filogenetica. Estos hallazgos resaltan la importancia de considerar no solo la riqueza de especies de plantas sino tambien sus historias evolutivas al disenar estrategias de restauracion ecologica, dado que un numero similar de especies de plantas puede dar lugar a distintos resultados en niveles troficos superiores, en funcion de las historias evolutivas de las plantas. We assessed the impact of plant phylogenetic diversity on arthropod communities in 12 experimental restoration plots with either high or low plant phylogenetic diversity. Arthropods with different feeding habits (herbivores, predators, pollinators, and detritivores) were collected after 1 and 3 years and were identified as morphospecies or operational taxonomic units using metabarcoding techniques. We provide insights on the influence of plant phylogenetic diversity on arthropod abundance and species diversity, particularly among predator, pollinator, and detritivore common and dominant species, which increased with plant phylogenetic diversity, whereas the opposite was found for herbivores. These findings highlight the importance of considering the evolutionary histories of plants used in restoration strategies, as the same number of plant species can produce different outcomes for higher trophic levels, as a function of their phylogenetic relationships.image