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Invertebrate herbivory increases along an experimental gradient of grassland plant diversity

  • Plant-microbe-animal interactions - Original research
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Abstract

Plant diversity is a key driver of ecosystem functioning best documented for its influence on plant productivity. The strength and direction of plant diversity effects on species interactions across trophic levels are less clear. For example, with respect to the interactions between herbivorous invertebrates and plants, a number of competing hypotheses have been proposed that predict either increasing or decreasing community herbivory with increasing plant species richness. We investigated foliar herbivory rates and consumed leaf biomass along an experimental grassland plant diversity gradient in year eight after establishment. The gradient ranged from one to 60 plant species and manipulated also functional group richness (from one to four functional groups—legumes, grasses, small herbs, and tall herbs) and plant community composition. Measurements in monocultures of each plant species showed that functional groups differed in the quantity and quality of herbivory damage they experienced, with legumes being more damaged than grasses or non-legume herbs. In mixed plant communities, herbivory increased with plant diversity and the presence of two key plant functional groups in mixtures had a positive (legumes) and a negative (grasses) effect on levels of herbivory. Further, plant community biomass had a strong positive impact on consumed leaf biomass, but little effect on herbivory rates. Our results contribute detailed data from a well-established biodiversity experiment to a growing body of evidence suggesting that an increase of herbivory with increasing plant diversity is the rule rather than an exception. Considering documented effects of herbivory on other ecosystem functions and the increase of herbivory with plant diversity, levels of herbivory damage might not only be a result, but also a trigger within the diversity–productivity relationship.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Alexandra Weigelt, the gardeners and the technical staff, in particular Gerlinde Kratzsch, for their work in maintaining the field site and organizing and processing the biomass harvest. We also thank many student helpers for their support during sorting of the biomass and conducting the herbivory measurements, especially Stefanie Schirmer and Sara Thiel. We are grateful to Marlén Gubsch and Annett Lipowsky for providing some plant trait measurements and to Norma Nitschke for comments and discussions that helped to improve the manuscript. The study was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (FOR 1451), by the AquaDiva@Jena project financed by the state of Thuringia, and by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

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Author notes

  1. Hannah Loranger

    Present address: Functional Ecology of Plants, Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University of Oldenburg, 26111, Oldenburg, Germany

  2. Wolfgang W. Weisser & Sebastian T. Meyer

    Present address: Terrestrial Ecology Research Group, Department of Ecology and Ecosystem Management, Center for Food and Life Sciences Weihenstephan, Technische Universität München, Hans-von-Carlowitz-Platz 2, 85354, Freising, Germany

  3. Till Eggers

    Present address: BASF SE, Crop Protection Global Research and Development, APR/PK, Limburgerhof, Germany

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Experimental Ecology Group, Department of Biology and Chemistry, University of Osnabrück, Barbarastrasse 13, 49076, Osnabrück, Germany

    Hannah Loranger & Till Eggers

  2. Multitrophic Interactions, Institute of Ecology, University of Jena, Dornburger Strasse 159, 07743, Jena, Germany

    Wolfgang W. Weisser, Anne Ebeling & Sebastian T. Meyer

  3. Biology of Species Interactions, Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurer Strasse 190, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland

    Enrica De Luca

  4. Département de Biologie et Centre des études de la forêt, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, J1K 2R9, Canada

    Jessy Loranger

  5. Department of Community Ecology, UFZ, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Theodor-Lieser-Strasse 4, 06120, Halle, Germany

    Christiane Roscher

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Correspondence to Sebastian T. Meyer.

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Communicated by Roland Brandl.

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Loranger, H., Weisser, W.W., Ebeling, A. et al. Invertebrate herbivory increases along an experimental gradient of grassland plant diversity. Oecologia 174, 183–193 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-013-2741-5

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