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Barnes AD, Scherber C, Brose U, Borer ET, Ebeling A, Gauzens B, Giling DP, Hines J, Isbell F, Ristok C, Tilman D, Weisser WW, Eisenhauer N. Biodiversity enhances the multitrophic control of arthropod herbivory. Sci Adv 2020; 6:6/45/eabb6603. [PMID: 33158860 PMCID: PMC7673711 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abb6603] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2020] [Accepted: 09/23/2020] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Arthropod herbivores cause substantial economic costs that drive an increasing need to develop environmentally sustainable approaches to herbivore control. Increasing plant diversity is expected to limit herbivory by altering plant-herbivore and predator-herbivore interactions, but the simultaneous influence of these interactions on herbivore impacts remains unexplored. We compiled 487 arthropod food webs in two long-running grassland biodiversity experiments in Europe and North America to investigate whether and how increasing plant diversity can reduce the impacts of herbivores on plants. We show that plants lose just under half as much energy to arthropod herbivores when in high-diversity mixtures versus monocultures and reveal that plant diversity decreases effects of herbivores on plants by simultaneously benefiting predators and reducing average herbivore food quality. These findings demonstrate that conserving plant diversity is crucial for maintaining interactions in food webs that provide natural control of herbivore pests.
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Affiliation(s)
- A D Barnes
- School of Science, University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton 3204, New Zealand.
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Leipzig University, Institute of Biology, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Institute of Landscape Ecology, University of Münster, Heisenbergstraße 2, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - C Scherber
- Institute of Landscape Ecology, University of Münster, Heisenbergstraße 2, 48149 Münster, Germany
- Centre for Biodiversity Monitoring, Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig, Adenauerallee 160, 53113 Bonn, Germany
| | - U Brose
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Institute of Biodiversity, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Dornburger Str. 159, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - E T Borer
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, 1479 Gortner Ave., Saint Paul, MN, USA
| | - A Ebeling
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Dornburger Str. 159, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - B Gauzens
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Institute of Biodiversity, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Dornburger Str. 159, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - D P Giling
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Leipzig University, Institute of Biology, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Institute of Biodiversity, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Dornburger Str. 159, 07743 Jena, Germany
- Centre for Applied Water Science, Institute for Applied Ecology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Canberra, 11 Kirinari St., Bruce, ACT 2617, Australia
- CSIRO Land and Water, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Canberra, Building 101, Clunies Ross Street, Black Mountain, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - J Hines
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Leipzig University, Institute of Biology, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - F Isbell
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, 1479 Gortner Ave., Saint Paul, MN, USA
| | - C Ristok
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Institute of Biodiversity, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Dornburger Str. 159, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - D Tilman
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, 1479 Gortner Ave., Saint Paul, MN, USA
- Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93117, USA
| | - W W Weisser
- Terrestrial Ecology Research Group, School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan, Technical University of Munich, Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 2, 85354 Freising, Germany
| | - N Eisenhauer
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Leipzig University, Institute of Biology, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
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