Effects Of Different Land Use Types On Faunal Diversity In The Semi-arid Area Of Loess Plateau

As a key factor influencing the ecosystem’s functions,biodiversity is still threatened by continuous changes in human-dominated land use types.In addition to taxonomic diversity,functional diversity and phylogenetic diversity are increasingly quantified in various fields because they reflect the ecological characteristic information and evolutionary history of the biological community.Therefore,the multidimensional biodiversity study can more comprehensively understand its spatial distribution changes and mechanisms.In the semi-arid zone of the Loess Plateau,the effects of different land use types on changes in faunal diversity are not clear.Arthropods and birds are sensitive to environmental changes and play an important role in ecosystem function and stability.Therefore,this study researched arthropods and birds’ diversity in six land use types including planting farmland,abandoned farmland,typical grassland,artificial mixed forest,artificial Platycladus orientalis forest,and Caragana korshinskii forest in the semi-arid zone of the Loess Plateau.Based on field sample survey and literature data,integration of taxonomic diversity,functional diversity and phylogenetic diversity was applied to explore the differences in arthropods and birds’ species composition,the β-diversity dominant patterns and mechanisms of community and the associations between arthropods and insectivorous birds among different land types.The main findings were as follows:(1)Species composition: there were 123 species of arthropods,of which 114 species belong to 3 classes,11 orders and 56 families,and 9 species of unidentified orders belong to Insecta(8 species)and Arachnida(1 species).There are a total of 46 bird species belonging to 27 families of 10 orders,including 15 species of 8 families of nonpasserine,31 species of 19 families of Passeriformes,6 species as national class Ⅱ key protected animalsl,and 3 species endemic to China.In addition,three dependent typical grassland bird species,including Alectoris magna,Perdix dauurica,and Carpodacus stoliczake,were not found in the artificial forests.(2)Multidimensional α diversity: at the level of arthropods’ taxonomic diversity was the highest in both artificial mixed forests and abandoned farmland,but birds’ taxonomic diversity was the highest in both planting farmland and abandoned farmland.A arthropods and birds’ functional and phylogenetic diversity were higher in planting farmland and anandoned farmland than those in the other four land use types.The phylogenetic diversity of the arthropods and birds in mixed forests was higher than those in two pure plantations,without significant differences in functional diversity among the three kinds of plantations.Generally,three artificial forests biodiversity are relatively low,compared to planting farmland and abandoned farmland.(3)Multidimensional β diversity and community construction mechanism: the overall differences in multidimensional diversity of arthropod and bird communities are dominated by the turnover process of β diversity,suggesting that each land use type has its own important role in species maintenance in the region.The functional and phylogenetic structures of the two biological groups among different land use types are not consistent.The functional structure of the arthropod community is a mainly discrete model,and the phylogenetic structure of is an aggregation model.The functional structure of the bird community is mainly an aggregation model,and the phylogenetic structure of is mainly a discrete model.These inconsistent pattern shows that the region plats a role in the maintenance of species through both environmental filtering and interspecific competition.(4)Correlation between arthropods and insectivorous birds: the analysis showed that species richness of insectivorous birds increased with arthropod richness,and the overall dissimilarity among communities also showed a consistent change pattern.In addition,this study found a highly significant positive correlation between Diptera and insectivorous birds among arthropods,a significant positive correlation between Coleoptera and them,and a positive but insignificant correlation between Lepidoptera and them.In summary,the changes in land use types in the semi-arid zone of the Loess Plateau led to changes in the species composition of arthropod and bird communities,accompanied by changes in functional and phylogenetic structure.The overall β-diversity pattern of arthropod and bird communities among different land use types is primarily driven by turnover,which inspires us to consider comprehensive conservation of multiple types from the perspective of biodiversity conservation,and continuous afforestation may cause a continuous reduction of the suitable living environment for native species.Even if artificial afforestation is to be continued,mixed planting trees and shrubs multi-species should be considered,which can effectively avoid reducing biodiversity compared to planting pure forests.The results not only provide background biological resources of the region,but also provide a theoretical basis and scientific guidance for biodiversity conservation.