@article{ThormannRaupachWagneretal.2011, author = {Thormann, Birthe and Raupach, Michael J. and Wagner, Thomas and W{\"a}gele, Johann W. and Peters, Marcell K.}, title = {Testing a Short Nuclear Marker for Inferring Staphylinid Beetle Diversity in an African Tropical Rain Forest}, series = {PLoS ONE}, volume = {6}, journal = {PLoS ONE}, number = {3}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0018101}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-142666}, pages = {e18101}, year = {2011}, abstract = {Background: The use of DNA based methods for assessing biodiversity has become increasingly common during the last years. Especially in speciose biomes as tropical rain forests and/or in hyperdiverse or understudied taxa they may efficiently complement morphological approaches. The most successful molecular approach in this field is DNA barcoding based on cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) marker, but other markers are used as well. Whereas most studies aim at identifying or describing species, there are only few attempts to use DNA markers for inventorying all animal species found in environmental samples to describe variations of biodiversity patterns. Methodology/Principal Findings: In this study, an analysis of the nuclear D3 region of the 28S rRNA gene to delimit species-like units is compared to results based on distinction of morphospecies. Data derived from both approaches are used to assess diversity and composition of staphylinid beetle communities of a Guineo-Congolian rain forest in Kenya. Beetles were collected with a standardized sampling design across six transects in primary and secondary forests using pitfall traps. Sequences could be obtained of 99\% of all individuals. In total, 76 molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs) were found in contrast to 70 discernible morphospecies. Despite this difference both approaches revealed highly similar biodiversity patterns, with species richness being equal in primary and secondary forests, but with divergent species communities in different habitats. The D3-MOTU approach proved to be an efficient tool for biodiversity analyses. Conclusions/Significance: Our data illustrate that the use of MOTUs as a proxy for species can provide an alternative to morphospecies identification for the analysis of changes in community structure of hyperdiverse insect taxa. The efficient amplification of the D3-marker and the ability of the D3-MOTUs to reveal similar biodiversity patterns as analyses of morphospecies recommend its use in future molecular studies on biodiversity.}, language = {en} } @article{SchleuningFarwigPetersetal.2011, author = {Schleuning, Matthias and Farwig, Nina and Peters, Marcell K. and Bergsdorf, Thomas and Bleher, B{\"a}rbel and Brandl, Roland and Dalitz, Helmut and Fischer, Georg and Freund, Wolfram and Gikungu, Mary W. and Hagen, Melanie and Garcia, Francisco Hita and Kagezi, Godfrey H. and Kaib, Manfred and Kraemer, Manfred and Lung, Tobias and Naumann, Clas M. and Schaab, Gertrud and Templin, Mathias and Uster, Dana and W{\"a}gele, J. Wolfgang and B{\"o}hning-Gaese, Katrin}, title = {Forest Fragmentation and Selective Logging Have Inconsistent Effects on Multiple Animal-Mediated Ecosystem Processes in a Tropical Forest}, series = {PLoS ONE}, volume = {6}, journal = {PLoS ONE}, number = {11}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0027785}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-140093}, pages = {e27785}, year = {2011}, abstract = {Forest fragmentation and selective logging are two main drivers of global environmental change and modify biodiversity and environmental conditions in many tropical forests. The consequences of these changes for the functioning of tropical forest ecosystems have rarely been explored in a comprehensive approach. In a Kenyan rainforest, we studied six animal-mediated ecosystem processes and recorded species richness and community composition of all animal taxa involved in these processes. We used linear models and a formal meta-analysis to test whether forest fragmentation and selective logging affected ecosystem processes and biodiversity and used structural equation models to disentangle direct from biodiversity-related indirect effects of human disturbance on multiple ecosystem processes. Fragmentation increased decomposition and reduced antbird predation, while selective logging consistently increased pollination, seed dispersal and army-ant raiding. Fragmentation modified species richness or community composition of five taxa, whereas selective logging did not affect any component of biodiversity. Changes in the abundance of functionally important species were related to lower predation by antbirds and higher decomposition rates in small forest fragments. The positive effects of selective logging on bee pollination, bird seed dispersal and army-ant raiding were direct, i.e. not related to changes in biodiversity, and were probably due to behavioural changes of these highly mobile animal taxa. We conclude that animal-mediated ecosystem processes respond in distinct ways to different types of human disturbance in Kakamega Forest. Our findings suggest that forest fragmentation affects ecosystem processes indirectly by changes in biodiversity, whereas selective logging influences processes directly by modifying local environmental conditions and resource distributions. The positive to neutral effects of selective logging on ecosystem processes show that the functionality of tropical forests can be maintained in moderately disturbed forest fragments. Conservation concepts for tropical forests should thus include not only remaining pristine forests but also functionally viable forest remnants.}, language = {en} } @article{KronauerPetersSchoningetal.2011, author = {Kronauer, Daniel J. C. and Peters, Marcell K. and Schoning, Caspar and Boomsma, Jacobus J.}, title = {Hybridization in East African swarm-raiding army ants}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-68798}, year = {2011}, abstract = {Background: Hybridization can have complex effects on evolutionary dynamics in ants because of the combination of haplodiploid sex-determination and eusociality. While hybrid non-reproductive workers have been found in a range of species, examples of gene-flow via hybrid queens and males are rare. We studied hybridization in East African army ants (Dorylus subgenus Anomma) using morphology, mitochondrial DNA sequences, and nuclear microsatellites. Results: While the mitochondrial phylogeny had a strong geographic signal, different species were not recovered as monophyletic. At our main study site at Kakamega Forest, a mitochondrial haplotype was shared between a "Dorylus molestus-like" and a "Dorylus wilverthi-like" form. This pattern is best explained by introgression following hybridization between D. molestus and D. wilverthi. Microsatellite data from workers showed that the two morphological forms correspond to two distinct genetic clusters, with a significant proportion of individuals being classified as hybrids. Conclusions: We conclude that hybridization and gene-flow between the two army ant species D. molestus and D. wilverthi has occurred, and that mating between the two forms continues to regularly produce hybrid workers. Hybridization is particularly surprising in army ants because workers have control over which males are allowed to mate with a young virgin queen inside the colony.}, subject = {Zoologie}, language = {en} } @article{PetersHempAppelhansetal.2016, author = {Peters, Marcell K. and Hemp, Andreas and Appelhans, Tim and Behler, Christina and Classen, Alice and Detsch, Florian and Ensslin, Andreas and Ferger, Stefan W. and Frederiksen, Sara B. and Gebert, Frederike and Haas, Michael and Helbig-Bonitz, Maria and Hemp, Claudia and Kindeketa, William J. and Mwangomo, Ephraim and Ngereza, Christine and Otte, Insa and R{\"o}der, Juliane and Rutten, Gemma and Costa, David Schellenberger and Tardanico, Joseph and Zancolli, Giulia and Deckert, J{\"u}rgen and Eardley, Connal D. and Peters, Ralph S. and R{\"o}del, Mark-Oliver and Schleuning, Matthias and Ssymank, Axel and Kakengi, Victor and Zhang, Jie and B{\"o}hning-Gaese, Katrin and Brandl, Roland and Kalko, Elisabeth K.V. and Kleyer, Michael and Nauss, Thomas and Tschapka, Marco and Fischer, Markus and Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf}, title = {Predictors of elevational biodiversity gradients change from single taxa to the multi-taxa community level}, series = {Nature Communications}, volume = {7}, journal = {Nature Communications}, doi = {10.1038/ncomms13736}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-169374}, year = {2016}, abstract = {The factors determining gradients of biodiversity are a fundamental yet unresolved topic in ecology. While diversity gradients have been analysed for numerous single taxa, progress towards general explanatory models has been hampered by limitations in the phylogenetic coverage of past studies. By parallel sampling of 25 major plant and animal taxa along a 3.7 km elevational gradient on Mt. Kilimanjaro, we quantify cross-taxon consensus in diversity gradients and evaluate predictors of diversity from single taxa to a multi-taxa community level. While single taxa show complex distribution patterns and respond to different environmental factors, scaling up diversity to the community level leads to an unambiguous support for temperature as the main predictor of species richness in both plants and animals. Our findings illuminate the influence of taxonomic coverage for models of diversity gradients and point to the importance of temperature for diversification and species coexistence in plant and animal communities.}, language = {en} } @article{ThormannAhrensArmijosetal.2016, author = {Thormann, Birthe and Ahrens, Dirk and Armijos, Diego Mar{\´i}n and Peters, Marcell K. and Wagner, Thomas and W{\"a}gele, Johann W.}, title = {Exploring the Leaf Beetle Fauna (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) of an Ecuadorian Mountain Forest Using DNA Barcoding}, series = {PLoS ONE}, volume = {11}, journal = {PLoS ONE}, number = {2}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0148268}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-167253}, pages = {e0148268}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Background Tropical mountain forests are hotspots of biodiversity hosting a huge but little known diversity of insects that is endangered by habitat destruction and climate change. Therefore, rapid assessment approaches of insect diversity are urgently needed to complement slower traditional taxonomic approaches. We empirically compare different DNA-based species delimitation approaches for a rapid biodiversity assessment of hyperdiverse leaf beetle assemblages along an elevational gradient in southern Ecuador and explore their effect on species richness estimates. Methodology/Principal Findings Based on a COI barcode data set of 674 leaf beetle specimens (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) of 266 morphospecies from three sample sites in the Podocarpus National Park, we employed statistical parsimony analysis, distance-based clustering, GMYC- and PTP-modelling to delimit species-like units and compared them to morphology-based (parataxonomic) species identifications. The four different approaches for DNA-based species delimitation revealed highly similar numbers of molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs) (n = 284-289). Estimated total species richness was considerably higher than the sampled amount, 414 for morphospecies (Chao2) and 469-481 for the different MOTU types. Assemblages at different elevational levels (1000 vs. 2000 m) had similar species numbers but a very distinct species composition for all delimitation methods. Most species were found only at one elevation while this turnover pattern was even more pronounced for DNA-based delimitation. Conclusions/Significance Given the high congruence of DNA-based delimitation results, probably due to the sampling structure, our study suggests that when applied to species communities on a regionally limited level with high amount of rare species (i.e. ~50\% singletons), the choice of species delimitation method can be of minor relevance for assessing species numbers and turnover in tropical insect communities. Therefore, DNA-based species delimitation is confirmed as a valuable tool for evaluating biodiversity of hyperdiverse insect communities, especially when exact taxonomic identifications are missing.}, language = {en} } @article{GebertSteffanDewenterMorettoetal.2019, author = {Gebert, Friederike and Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf and Moretto, Philippe and Peters, Marcell K.}, title = {Climate rather than dung resources predict dung beetle abundance and diversity along elevational and land use gradients on Mt. Kilimanjaro}, series = {Journal of Biogeography}, volume = {47}, journal = {Journal of Biogeography}, number = {2}, doi = {10.1111/jbi.13710}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-204701}, pages = {371 -- 381}, year = {2019}, abstract = {Aim: While elevational gradients in species richness constitute some of the best depicted patterns in ecology, there is a large uncertainty concerning the role of food resource availability for the establishment of diversity gradients in insects. Here, we analysed the importance of climate, area, land use and food resources for determining diversity gradients of dung beetles along extensive elevation and land use gradients on Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Location: Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Taxon: Scarabaeidae (Coleoptera). Methods: Dung beetles were recorded with baited pitfall traps at 66 study plots along a 3.6 km elevational gradient. In order to quantify food resources for the dung beetle community in form of mammal defecation rates, we assessed mammalian diversity and biomass with camera traps. Using a multi-model inference framework and path analysis, we tested the direct and indirect links between climate, area, land use and mammal defecation rates on the species richness and abundance of dung beetles. Results: We found that the species richness of dung beetles declined exponentially with increasing elevation. Human land use diminished the species richness of functional groups exhibiting complex behaviour but did not have a significant influence on total species richness. Path analysis suggested that climate, in particular temperature and to a lesser degree precipitation, were the most important predictors of dung beetle species richness while mammal defecation rate was not supported as a predictor variable. Main conclusions: Along broad climatic gradients, dung beetle diversity is mainly limited by climatic factors rather than by food resources. Our study points to a predominant role of temperature-driven processes for the maintenance and origination of species diversity of ectothermic organisms, which will consequently be subject to ongoing climatic changes.}, language = {en} } @article{ClassenEardleyHempetal.2020, author = {Classen, Alice and Eardley, Connal D. and Hemp, Andreas and Peters, Marcell K. and Peters, Ralph S. and Ssymank, Axel and Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf}, title = {Specialization of plant-pollinator interactions increases with temperature at Mt. Kilimanjaro}, series = {Ecology and Evolution}, volume = {10}, journal = {Ecology and Evolution}, number = {4}, doi = {10.1002/ece3.6056}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-235959}, pages = {2182-2195}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Aim: Species differ in their degree of specialization when interacting with other species, with significant consequences for the function and robustness of ecosystems. In order to better estimate such consequences, we need to improve our understanding of the spatial patterns and drivers of specialization in interaction networks. Methods: Here, we used the extensive environmental gradient of Mt. Kilimanjaro (Tanzania, East Africa) to study patterns and drivers of specialization, and robustness of plant-pollinator interactions against simulated species extinction with standardized sampling methods. We studied specialization, network robustness and other network indices of 67 quantitative plant-pollinator networks consisting of 268 observational hours and 4,380 plant-pollinator interactions along a 3.4 km elevational gradient. Using path analysis, we tested whether resource availability, pollinator richness, visitation rates, temperature, and/or area explain average specialization in pollinator communities. We further linked pollinator specialization to different pollinator taxa, and species traits, that is, proboscis length, body size, and species elevational ranges. Results: We found that specialization decreased with increasing elevation at different levels of biological organization. Among all variables, mean annual temperature was the best predictor of average specialization in pollinator communities. Specialization differed between pollinator taxa, but was not related to pollinator traits. Network robustness against simulated species extinctions of both plants and pollinators was lowest in the most specialized interaction networks, that is, in the lowlands. Conclusions: Our study uncovers patterns in plant-pollinator specialization along elevational gradients. Mean annual temperature was closely linked to pollinator specialization. Energetic constraints, caused by short activity timeframes in cold highlands, may force ectothermic species to broaden their dietary spectrum. Alternatively or in addition, accelerated evolutionary rates might facilitate the establishment of specialization under warm climates. Despite the mechanisms behind the patterns have yet to be fully resolved, our data suggest that temperature shifts in the course of climate change may destabilize pollination networks by affecting network architecture.}, language = {en} } @article{MayrPetersEardleyetal.2020, author = {Mayr, Antonia V. and Peters, Marcell K. and Eardley, Connal D. and Renner, Marion E. and R{\"o}der, Juliane and Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf}, title = {Climate and food resources shape species richness and trophic interactions of cavity-nesting Hymenoptera}, series = {Journal of Biogeography}, volume = {47}, journal = {Journal of Biogeography}, number = {4}, doi = {10.1111/jbi.13753}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-208101}, pages = {854-865}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Aim: Temperature, food resources and top-down regulation by antagonists are considered as major drivers of insect diversity, but their relative importance is poorly understood. Here, we used cavity-nesting communities of bees, wasps and their antagonists to reveal the role of temperature, food resources, parasitism rate and land use as drivers of species richness at different trophic levels along a broad elevational gradient. Location: Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Taxon: Cavity-nesting Hymenoptera (Hymenoptera: Apidae, Colletidae, Megachilidae, Crabronidae, Sphecidae, Pompilidae, Vespidae). Methods: We established trap nests on 25 study sites that were distributed over similar large distances in terms of elevation along an elevational gradient from 866 to 1788 m a.s.l., including both natural and disturbed habitats. We quantified species richness and abundance of bees, wasps and antagonists, parasitism rates and flower or arthropod food resources. Data were analysed with generalized linear models within a multi-model inference framework. Results: Elevational species richness patterns changed with trophic level from monotonically declining richness of bees to increasingly humped-shaped patterns for caterpillar-hunting wasps, spider-hunting wasps and antagonists. Parasitism rates generally declined with elevation but were higher for wasps than for bees. Temperature was the most important predictor of both bee and wasp host richness patterns. Antagonist richness patterns were also well predicted by temperature, but in contrast to host richness patterns, additionally by resource abundance and diversity. The conversion of natural habitats through anthropogenic land use, which included biomass removal, agricultural inputs, vegetation structure and percentage of surrounding agricultural habitats, had no significant effects on bee and wasp communities. Main conclusions: Our study underpins the importance of temperature as a main driver of diversity gradients in ectothermic organisms and reveals the increasingly important role of food resources at higher trophic levels. Higher parasitism rates at higher trophic levels and at higher temperatures indicated that the relative importance of bottom-up and top-down drivers of species richness change across trophic levels and may respond differently to future climate change.}, language = {en} } @article{PetersClassenMuelleretal.2020, author = {Peters, Marcell K. and Classen, Alice and M{\"u}ller, J{\"o}rg and Steffan‑Dewenter, Ingolf}, title = {Increasing the phylogenetic coverage for understanding broad-scale diversity gradients}, series = {Oecologia}, volume = {192}, journal = {Oecologia}, issn = {0029-8549}, doi = {10.1007/s00442-020-04615-x}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-232519}, pages = {629-639}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Despite decades of scientific effort, there is still no consensus on the determinants of broad-scale gradients of animal diver-sity. We argue that general drivers of diversity are unlikely to be found among the narrowly defined taxa which are typically analyzed in studies of broad-scale diversity gradients because ecological niches evolve largely conservatively. This causes constraints in the use of available niche space leading to systematic differences in diversity gradients among taxa. We instead advocate studies of phylogenetically diverse animal communities along broad environmental gradients. Such multi-taxa communities are less constrained in resource use and diversification and may be better targets for testing major classical hypotheses on diversity gradients. Besides increasing the spatial scale in analyses, expanding the phylogenetic coverage may be a second way to achieve higher levels of generality in studies of broad-scale diversity gradients}, language = {en} } @article{LaswayKinaboMremietal.2021, author = {Lasway, Julius V. and Kinabo, Neema R. and Mremi, Rudolf F. and Martin, Emanuel H. and Nyakunga, Oliver C. and Sanya, John J. and Rwegasira, Gration M. and Lesio, Nicephor and Gideon, Hulda and Pauly, Alain and Eardley, Connal and Peters, Marcell K. and Peterson, Andrew T. and Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf and Njovu, Henry K.}, title = {A synopsis of the Bee occurrence data of northern Tanzania}, series = {Biodiversity Data Journal}, volume = {9}, journal = {Biodiversity Data Journal}, doi = {10.3897/BDJ.9.e68190}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-265018}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Background Bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila) are the most important group of pollinators with about 20,507 known species worldwide. Despite the critical role of bees in providing pollination services, studies aiming at understanding which species are present across disturbance gradients are scarce. Limited taxononomic information for the existing and unidentified bee species in Tanzania make their conservation haphazard. Here, we present a dataset of bee species records obtained from a survey in nothern Tanzania i.e. Kilimanjaro, Arusha and Manyara regions. Our findings serve as baseline data necessary for understanding the diversity and distribution of bees in the northern parts of the country, which is a critical step in devising robust conservation and monitoring strategies for their populations. New information In this paper, we present information on 45 bee species belonging to 20 genera and four families sampled using a combination of sweep-netting and pan trap methods. Most species (27, ~ 60\%) belong to the family Halictidae followed by 16 species (35.5\%) from the family Apidae. Megachilidae and Andrenidae were the least represented, each with only one species (2.2\%). Additional species of Apidae and Megachilidae sampled during this survey are not yet published on Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), once they will be available on GBIF, they will be published in a subsequent paper. From a total of 953 occurrences, highest numbers were recorded in Kilimanjaro Region (n = 511), followed by Arusha (n = 410) and Manyara (n = 32), but this pattern reflects the sampling efforts of the research project rather than real bias in the distributions of bee species in northern Tanzania.}, language = {en} }