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Arthropod biomass increase in spring correlates with NDVI in grassland habitat

The Science of Nature volume 107, Article number: 42 (2020) Cite this article

Abstract

Data from remote sensing are often used as proxies to quantify biological processes, especially at large geographical scales. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) is the most frequently used proxy for primary productivity. Assuming a direct, positive interrelation between primary and secondary production in terrestrial habitats, NDVI is often used to predict food availability for higher trophic levels. However, the relationship between NDVI and arthropod biomass has rarely been tested. In this study, we analyzed extensive datasets of arthropod communities from semi-natural grasslands in central Europe to test the relationship between arthropod biomass of consumer trophic levels (“herbivores,” “mixed,” and “carnivores”) in grassland communities and NDVI during the spring season. We found that arthropod biomass generally increased with NDVI. The same positive relationship between biomass and NDVI was observed for each individual trophic level. Cross-correlation analyses did not show statistically significant lags between the NDVI and biomass of herbivores and carnivores. All in all, our study provides correlational evidence for the positive relation of primary and secondary productivity in temperate terrestrial habitats during spring. Moreover, it supports the applicability of NDVI data as a suitable habitat-specific proxy for the food availability of insectivores during spring.

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Data availability

This study was a re-analysis of field data collected in the 1980s within the grassland project of the former Scientific Department Ecology (Wissenschaftsbereich Ökologie) at the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena (former German Democratic Republic).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Bird Migration, Swiss Ornithological Institute, CH 6204, Sempach, Switzerland

    Mario Fernández-Tizón, Tamara Emmenegger & Steffen Hahn

  2. Department of Biology, Geology, Physics and Inorganic Chemistry, University Rey Juan Carlos, Móstoles, Spain

    Mario Fernández-Tizón

  3. U.A.S. Umwelt- und Agrarstudien GmbH, 07743, Jena, Germany

    Jörg Perner

Authors
  1. Mario Fernández-Tizón
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  2. Tamara Emmenegger
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  3. Jörg Perner
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  4. Steffen Hahn
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Contributions

All authors contributed equally to this work, including the conception, development, and writing of this manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mario Fernández-Tizón.

Ethics declarations

Within the temporal framework of the field work for this study, arthropod sampling had no legal restrictions in its location (former German Democratic Republic).

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Not applicable.

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Code available on request from the authors.

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Communicated by: Matthias Waltert

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Fernández-Tizón, M., Emmenegger, T., Perner, J. et al. Arthropod biomass increase in spring correlates with NDVI in grassland habitat. Sci Nat 107, 42 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-020-01698-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-020-01698-7

Keywords

  • Primary productivity
  • Secondary productivity
  • Proxy
  • Food abundance
  • Insects
  • Remote sensing