近日，香港大学教授Louise A. Ashton及其团队开发出强厄尔尼诺减少热带森林节肢动物的多样性和功能。2025年8月6日出版的《自然》杂志发表了这项成果。

在这里，课题组研究人员对原始热带森林的数据进行了时间序列分析，结果显示节肢动物多样性和功能的长期下降与厄尔尼诺现象有关。在美洲，物种损失与厄尔尼诺现象有关，物种丰富程度随取食性状和生态专门化程度而波动。东南亚蝴蝶数量的平行下降表明，这种影响跨越了各大洲。预测的节肢动物多样性变化与观察到的无脊椎动物介导的分解率和叶食草率相关，它们分别在热带地区振荡和崩溃。他们的分析表明，加剧的厄尔尼诺现象立即威胁到热带森林节肢动物及其提供的生态系统功能。更广泛的后果尚不清楚，但这种广泛的变化可能从根本上改变热带森林生态系统。对热带地区节肢动物多样性和森林功能的长期监测至关重要，研究这种新威胁背后的潜在机制也至关重要。

据了解，关于节肢动物对气候变化的脆弱性一直存在争论。气候变化对节肢动物群落的长期影响可能通过短期天气模式表现出来。热带节肢动物具有高度多样性，并具有许多重要的生态系统功能，但与温带地区相比，对它们的研究相对较少。在气候变化背景下，热带森林节肢动物及其提供的功能可能容易受到厄尔尼诺事件的影响。

附：英文原文

Title: Stronger El Ninos reduce tropical forest arthropod diversity and function

Author: Sharp, Adam C., Boyle, Michael J. W., Bonebrake, Timothy C., Guo, Yirong, Kitching, Roger L., Stork, Nigel E., Zeng, Xiaoyi, Ashton, Louise A.

Issue&Volume: 2025-08-06

Abstract: There is ongoing debate about the vulnerability of arthropods to climate change1,2. Long-term impacts of climate change on arthropod communities could manifest through short-term weather patterns3. Arthropods in the tropics are hyper-diverse4,5 and contribute many crucial ecosystem functions6,7, but are comparatively less studied than in temperate regions1,8,9. Tropical forest arthropods and the functions that they provide may be vulnerable to intensified El Nino events under climate change10,11,12. Here we perform time-series analysis of data from primary tropical forests, which reveal long-term declines in arthropod diversity and function that were linked to El Nio occurrence. In the Americas, species losses correlated with El Nio sensitivity, and abundant species fluctuated according to feeding traits and level of ecological specialization. Parallel declines in butterflies in Southeast Asia suggested that impacts spanned continents. Predicted arthropod diversity changes correlated with observed rates of invertebrate-mediated decomposition and leaf herbivory, which were oscillating and crashing, respectively, across the tropics. Our analyses suggest that an intensified El Nino immediately threatens tropical forest arthropods and the ecosystem functions that they provide. The broader consequences remain unknown, but such widespread changes could fundamentally alter tropical forest ecosystems13. Long-term monitoring of arthropod diversity and forest functioning across the tropics is paramount, as is researching the potential mechanisms that underly this novel threat.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09351-x

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09351-x