Abstract
Plant parasitic nematodes are among the greatest consumers of primary production in terrestrial ecosystems. Their feeding strategies can be divided into endoparasites and ectoparasites that differ substantially, not only in their damage potential to host tissue and primary production, but also in their susceptibility to environmental changes. Climate change is predicted to increase variability of precipitation in many systems, yet the effects on belowground biodiversity and associated impacts on primary productivity remain poorly understood. To examine the impact of altered precipitation on endo- and ectoparasitic soil nematodes, we conducted a 2-year precipitation manipulation study across an arid, a semiarid, and a mesic grassland. Plant parasite feeding type abundance, functional guilds, and herbivory index in response to precipitation were evaluated. Responses of endo- and ectoparasites to increased precipitation varied by grassland type. There was little response of ectoparasites to increased precipitation although their population declined at the mesic site with increased precipitation. The abundance of endoparasites remained unchanged with increasing precipitation at the arid site, increased at the semiarid, and decreased at the mesic site. The herbivory index followed closely the trends seen in the endoparasites response by stagnating at the arid site, increasing at the semiarid, and decreasing at the mesic site. Our findings suggest that altered precipitation has differing effects on plant parasite feeding strategies as well as functional guilds. This may have important implications for grassland productivity, as plant parasite pressure may exacerbate the effects of climate change on host plants.
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Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant number DEB-1456631 to Diana H. Wall and DEB-1456597 and DEB-1832194 to Osvaldo E. Sala. This work would not be possible if not for the help from the staff at the Jornada Basin LTER, Semiarid Grassland Research Center, Central Plains Experimental Range, and Konza Prairie Biological Station, and the advice and manuscript reviews from the Wall laboratory.
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OES and DHW designed research. ALCF, LAG, CMdT, WSA, KEA, and EAS performed research. KEA analyzed data and KEA, ALCF, SJF, and DHW wrote the paper.
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Ankrom, K.E., Franco, A.L.C., Fonte, S.J. et al. Ecto- and endoparasitic nematodes respond differently across sites to changes in precipitation. Oecologia 193, 761–771 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-020-04708-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-020-04708-7