The ecological role of Fraxinus for species diversity in floodplain forests

The ecological role of Fraxinus for species diversity in floodplain forests | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article The ecological role of Fraxinus for species diversity in floodplain forests Andreas Floren, P. Horchler, P. Sprick, Tobias Müller This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4136363/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract To assess how different tree species contribute to overall diversity and system function, we sampled 99 trees by fogging in Elbe floodplain forests and collected 182,179 arthropods, of which 25,861 (14.2%) were beetles. Ninety percent of all beetle individuals and 65% of the beetle species were associated with the canopy. Beetles of the herb and soil layer contributed 35% to canopy richness, but represented only 8% of all individuals. Beetle communities differed significantly in diversity, structure and functional composition between tree species, suggesting different roles in maintaining diversity. Two types of communities could be distinguished: 1) those with high proportions of specialists that formed a predictable framework, characterised by high alpha diversity and low within-beta diversity such as those on Quercus robur and Ulmus laevis, and 2) those on Fraxinus excelsior with predominantly non-specific beetles, characterised by high alpha and high beta diversity. We found that the distribution of the most abundant zoophagous and second most abundant phytophagous guilds in the beetle- and ordinal communities was similar for all trees but differed significantly between tree species. This suggests strong top-down control of herbivore populations. These results indicate that a comprehensive assessment of tree canopy diversity is necessary and overdue to understand the ecological processes that ensure the functioning of forest ecosystems and the provision of ecological services. canopy arthropods climate change diversity maintenance guild composition top-down control Full Text Supplementary Files SupplementaryMaterialMSFraxinus.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4136363","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":286071255,"identity":"f81d6d22-1606-4eea-a396-1a4fc8ec82bf","order_by":0,"name":"Andreas Floren","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABL0lEQVRIie3PPUvDQBjA8SccXJYLXQNi/QqRgLVQmq9yIRAXnQLFoRQhcC7WuUE/REHwZQscZCrpGoiIUBAHh7gUC1q9xCwmZugmcv/hDh74cfcAyGR/M6M41dPi6gGgH3PcTAgvLndzwqvzOmld+NdZNhwBQSjKXm/n9o0KeIscP1gd/WjxDINelej3kRdMIi4IdoJgltp3fk5mHupODvb2IXZrzySHJiI4BAsRE2kstae8tUw1RrGRuNhQGK+KnZy8r/OPCfLBYkEAp9qakpJ81nbPicLQN1FYWJITqguCHsWkSnYT11PG55zkuyhj5piCqKvLiBrdsycMNHaqpJ04V/C2HLWJ6nNYsf72dB4i42VIrY7qoiwb9Gvrl5Ffp1inTaAplG0qZDKZ7D/2BRrgZY80endyAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Bioinformatics Institute","correspondingAuthor":true,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Andreas","middleName":"","lastName":"Floren","suffix":""},{"id":286071256,"identity":"235af0d2-ce4e-48ea-b117-c7e14b6f4c9e","order_by":1,"name":"P. 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