Invertebrates are dominant species in primary tropical rainforests, where their abundance and diversity contributes to the functioning and resilience of these globally important ecosystems. However, more than one-third of tropical forests have been logged, with dramatic impacts on rainforest biodiversity that may disrupt key ecosystem processes. We find that the contribution of invertebrates to three ecosystem processes operating at three trophic levels (litter decomposition, seed predation and removal, and invertebrate predation) is reduced by up to one-half following logging. These changes are associated with decreased abundance of key functional groups of termites, ants, beetles and earthworms, and an increase in the abundance of small mammals, amphibians and insectivorous birds in logged relative to primary forest. Our results suggest that ecosystem processes themselves have considerable resilience to logging, but the consistent decline of invertebrate functional importance is indicative of a human-induced shift in how these ecological processes operate in tropical rainforests.

• MeSH
• bezobratlí fyziologie   MeSH
• biodiverzita MeSH
• deštný prales * MeSH
• distribuce rostlin fyziologie   MeSH
• druhová specificita MeSH
• lesnictví statistika a číselné údaje   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• obojživelníci fyziologie   MeSH
• populační dynamika MeSH
• potravní řetězec MeSH
• ptáci fyziologie   MeSH
• savci fyziologie   MeSH
• stromy fyziologie   MeSH
• tropické klima MeSH
• zachování přírodních zdrojů * MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Malajsie MeSH

Species moved by human activities beyond the limits of their native geographic ranges into areas in which they do not naturally occur (termed aliens) can cause a broad range of significant changes to recipient ecosystems; however, their impacts vary greatly across species and the ecosystems into which they are introduced. There is therefore a critical need for a standardised method to evaluate, compare, and eventually predict the magnitudes of these different impacts. Here, we propose a straightforward system for classifying alien species according to the magnitude of their environmental impacts, based on the mechanisms of impact used to code species in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Global Invasive Species Database, which are presented here for the first time. The classification system uses five semi-quantitative scenarios describing impacts under each mechanism to assign species to different levels of impact-ranging from Minimal to Massive-with assignment corresponding to the highest level of deleterious impact associated with any of the mechanisms. The scheme also includes categories for species that are Not Evaluated, have No Alien Population, or are Data Deficient, and a method for assigning uncertainty to all the classifications. We show how this classification system is applicable at different levels of ecological complexity and different spatial and temporal scales, and embraces existing impact metrics. In fact, the scheme is analogous to the already widely adopted and accepted Red List approach to categorising extinction risk, and so could conceivably be readily integrated with existing practices and policies in many regions.

• MeSH
• biodiverzita MeSH
• býložravci fyziologie   MeSH
• distribuce rostlin fyziologie   MeSH
• druhová specificita MeSH
• extinkce biologická MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• lidské činnosti trendy   MeSH
• nejistota MeSH
• populační dynamika trendy   MeSH
• potravní řetězec MeSH
• predátorské chování fyziologie   MeSH
• půda chemie   MeSH
• rostliny mikrobiologie   parazitologie   virologie   MeSH
• rozšíření zvířat fyziologie   MeSH
• zavlečené druhy statistika a číselné údaje   MeSH
• životní prostředí * MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

Species gain membership of regional assemblages by passing through multiple ecological and environmental filters. To capture the potential trajectory of structural changes in regional meta-communities driven by biological invasions, one can categorize species pools into assemblages of different residence times. Older assemblages, having passed through more environmental filters, should become more functionally ordered and structured. Here we calculate the level of compartmentalization (modularity) for three different-aged assemblages (neophytes, introduced after 1500 AD; archaeophytes, introduced before 1500 AD, and natives), including 2,054 species of vascular plants in 302 reserves in central Europe. Older assemblages are more compartmentalized than younger ones, with species composition, phylogenetic structure and habitat characteristics of the modules becoming increasingly distinctive. This sheds light on two mechanisms of how alien species are functionally incorporated into regional species pools: the settling-down hypothesis of diminishing stochasticity with residence time, and the niche-mosaic hypothesis of inlaid neutral modules in regional meta-communities.

• MeSH
• Asteraceae klasifikace   fyziologie   MeSH
• biodiverzita MeSH
• časové faktory MeSH
• distribuce rostlin fyziologie   MeSH
• druhová specificita MeSH
• ekosystém MeSH
• fylogeneze * MeSH
• fylogeografie MeSH
• fyziologická adaptace MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• lipnicovité klasifikace   fyziologie   MeSH
• Rosaceae klasifikace   fyziologie   MeSH
• šáchorovité klasifikace   fyziologie   MeSH
• zavlečené druhy MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Česká republika MeSH