Arthropod communities of forest ecosystems on Changbai Mountain, Northeast China: Changes in the trophic structure of soil and canopy food webs from temperate to boreal forests and the channelling of energy through them

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Stefan Scheu
• Subject Area: Ecology and Biodiversity of Animals and Ecosystems, Organismic Interactions
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 550022758

The project focuses on changes in the structure of above- and belowground food webs of forests and the channeling of energy through them with altitude in close to natural forests on Changbai Mountain, northeast China. The altitudinal gradient spans from warm temperate deciduous to boreal coniferous forests. Quantitative methods will be employed to sample canopy arthropods (using canopy fogging) and soil animals (using heat extraction). Using bulk stable isotope as well as compound specific stable isotope analysis of amino acids (CSIA-AA) canopy and soil animal taxa will be investigated in a comprehensive way. Combined with biomass data this will allow to erect reliable energy flux food webs and calculate the channeling of energy through them. The project comprises three work packages. The first focuses on canopy food webs the second on soil food webs along the studied altitudinal gradient. These projects will employ bulk stable isotope analysis for food web reconstruction. The canopy food web will be based on 18 high-rank arthropod taxa and the soil food web on 21 high-rank invertebrate taxa representing trophic groups as energy flux nodes. The third work package will combine the stable isotope data of the above- and belowground food web with CSIA-AA of the same taxa to allow calculating the channeling of energy from major basal resources including tissue of higher plants (trees; living or dead), algae, fungi and bacteria through above- and belowground food webs and their changes with altitude / forest biome. The approach will allow to identify changes in major trophic functions in consumer food webs with altitude / forest biome including herbivory, litter and soil feeding, bacterivory and fungivory (i.e., microbivory), as well as predation. The project will provide insight into major changes in the structure and functioning of above- and belowground food webs of forests with altitude and biome and thereby contribute to our understanding of how global temperature change may affect the structure and functioning of forest food webs in the temperate and boreal zone.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants