Herbivore metabolism and stoichiometry each constrain herbivory at different organizational scales across ecosystems

Hillebrand, Helmut; Borer, Elizabeth T.; Bracken, Matthew E. S.; Cardinale, Bradley J.; Cebrián, Just; Cleland, Elsa E.; Elser, James J.; Gruner, Daniel S.; Harpole, W. Stanley; Ngai, Jacqueline T.; Sandin, Stuart A.; Seabloom, Eric W.; Shurin, Jonathan B.; Smith, Jennifer E.; Smith, Melinda D.

doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01304.x

Cited by 158 publications

(204 citation statements)

References 88 publications

(184 reference statements)

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“…In their meta-analysis across different systems and organism groups, Hillebrand et al [21] generally found increasing per capita grazing rates with decreasing food quality, but decreasing population grazing rates. The capacity of individual consumers to increase food uptake rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org Phil.…”

Section: (I) Population Grazing Ratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Grazing and growth rates of consumers depend on the body mass, food stoichiometry and temperature [21,27]. It has been shown that the weight-specific grazing rate scales with a grazer's body mass as m 20.25 [28,29].…”

Section: (C) Theoretical Predictionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It has been shown that the weight-specific grazing rate scales with a grazer's body mass as m 20.25 [28,29]. Additionally, grazing rates follow the Arrhenius law as a function of absolute temperature T, and change as (C : N) 0.68 as a function of food stoichiometry [21,27]. As a proxy for the consumer mass, m, we use species biovolume BV (see the electronic supplementary material, table S1).…”

Section: (C) Theoretical Predictionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The largest synthesis of ES and MTE so far comprises more than 350 studies in a meta-analysis on the relative explanatory power of both frameworks for herbivorephototroph interactions [21]. This analysis demonstrated that both temperature and herbivore body size, as well as stoichiometric mismatch (low food quality of prey), constrain herbivory.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, both ES and MTE have rarely been applied in the context of BEF so far (for ES and BEF see [20] for a review), or in combination (for exceptions, see [7,[21][22][23][24]). For instance, Woods et al [24] demonstrated in a meta-analysis that organismal phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) concentrations across various organism groups were higher in cold versus warm environments, as the efficiency of RNA (requiring P) and proteins (requiring N) in biochemical reactions increases with temperature [24].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Unifying ecological stoichiometry and metabolic theory to predict production and trophic transfer in a marine planktonic food web

Moorthi

Schmitt

Ryabov

et al. 2016

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Two ecological frameworks have been used to explain multitrophic interactions, but rarely in combination: (i) ecological stoichiometry (ES), explaining consumption rates in response to consumers' demand and prey's nutrient content; and (ii) metabolic theory of ecology (MTE), proposing that temperature and body mass affect metabolic rates, growth and consumption rates. Here we combined both, ES and MTE to investigate interactive effects of phytoplankton prey stoichiometry, temperature and zooplankton consumer body mass on consumer grazing rates and production in a microcosm experiment. A simple model integrating parameters from both frameworks was used to predict interactive effects of temperature and nutrient conditions on consumer performance. Overall, model predictions reflected experimental patterns well: consumer grazing rates and production increased with temperature, as could be expected based on MTE. With decreasing algal food quality, grazing rates increased due to compensatory feeding, while consumer growth rates and final biovolume decreased. Nutrient effects on consumer biovolume increased with increasing temperature, while nutrient effects on grazing rates decreased. Highly interactive effects of temperature and nutrient supply indicate that combining the frameworks of ES and MTE is highly important to enhance our ability to predict ecosystem functioning in the context of global change.

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Section: (I) Population Grazing Ratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: (C) Theoretical Predictionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: (C) Theoretical Predictionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Unifying ecological stoichiometry and metabolic theory to predict production and trophic transfer in a marine planktonic food web

Moorthi

Schmitt

Ryabov

et al. 2016

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Biological Stoichiometry

Striebel

Frost

Elser

2017

Encyclopedia of Life Sciences

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Biological stoichiometry is the study of the balance of energy and multiple chemical elements in living systems. It compares elemental requirements of organisms for growth, reproduction and maintenance with that provided by their nutritional resources. It considers the physiological, cellular and biochemical underpinnings of stoichiometric differences as well as their evolutionary basis. Primary producers generally exhibit greater flexibility in elemental composition compared to consumers, which leads to elemental imbalances between adjacent trophic levels. For individual organisms, the relatively low supply of an element can alter metabolic and physiological processes involving the acquisition, incorporation and release of multiple chemical elements. When sustained, elemental imbalances slow growth and limit reproduction of organisms, particularly those with relatively high elemental requirements. Elemental imbalances have been documented in diverse ecosystems and at multiple trophic levels and affect key ecological and evolutionary processes underlying population dynamics, life‐history evolution, community structure, trophic interactions and ecosystem function. Key Concepts Biological stoichiometry studies the balance of energy and multiple chemical elements in living systems. Biological stoichiometry compares the elemental compositions of resources with the elemental requirements of organisms. It also considers the environmental and evolutionary origins of elemental imbalances between producers and consumers. Biological stoichiometry approaches processes such as organism growth, population dynamics and trophic interactions as if such processes were composite chemical reactions that must simultaneously meet the law of mass conservation for multiple chemical elements and the rules of exact proportions in chemical reactions. Biological stoichiometry uses its elemental perspective on biochemical and physiological processes to understand intra‐ and interspecific interactions that involve the transfer or transformation of matter in food webs. Biological stoichiometry also provides a mechanistic framework for how animal species mediate ecosystem processes such as nutrient recycling. The stoichiometric approach can also be used to study trophic interactions as well as decomposition and microbial release of elements. Biological stoichiometry considers the molecular and evolutionary basis of major differences in the C:N:P ratios of living things. Understanding how evolution affects these ratios provides considerable insight into processes that link all levels of organisation in biology.

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Effects of Insect Herbivores on the Nitrogen Economy of Plants

Tao¹,

Hunter²

2011

Ecological Aspects of Nitrogen Metabolism in Plants

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Herbivore metabolism and stoichiometry each constrain herbivory at different organizational scales across ecosystems

Cited by 158 publications

References 88 publications

Unifying ecological stoichiometry and metabolic theory to predict production and trophic transfer in a marine planktonic food web

Unifying ecological stoichiometry and metabolic theory to predict production and trophic transfer in a marine planktonic food web

Biological Stoichiometry

Effects of Insect Herbivores on the Nitrogen Economy of Plants

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