Plant richness, land use and temperature differently shape invertebrate leaf-chewing herbivory on plant functional groups

Fricke, Ute; Redlich, Sarah; Zhang, Jie; Tobisch, Cynthia; Rojas‐Botero, Sandra; Benjamin, Caryl; Englmeier, Jana; Ganuza, Cristina; Riebl, Rebekka; Uhler, Johannes; Uphus, Lars; Ewald, Jörg; Kollmann, Johannes; Steffan‐Dewenter, Ingolf

doi:10.1007/s00442-022-05199-4

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…Average herbivory was three times higher in forb species compared to grasses, most likely caused by higher palatability and lower physical resistance of forbs compared to grasses (Lavorel and Garnier 2002 ; Firn et al 2019 ). Similar ratios were found by others (Turcotte et al 2014 ; Fricke et al 2022 ). Furthermore, plant traits explained differences among grasses, but not among forbs.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Previous studies showed variation in herbivory and mixed results for diversity effects on herbivory (Scherber et al 2006 ; Schuldt et al 2010 ; Vockenhuber et al 2013 ; Loranger et al 2014 ; Hahn et al 2017 ; Fricke et al 2022 ). Here, we studied species-specific herbivory in one of the largest grassland biodiversity experiments (Jena Experiment) and found that the average herbivory strongly differed among plant species and functional groups (forbs species were more damaged by herbivores than grasses).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Because of the complex changes that plant diversity imposes at the level of plant communities and individual plant species, it remains challenging to predict how species-specific herbivory responds to the diversity of the surrounding plant community. Previous studies found no consistent effects but highlighted the importance of species identity effects (Scherber et al 2006 ; Schuldt et al 2010 ; Vockenhuber et al 2013 ; Loranger et al 2014 ; Hahn et al 2017 ; Fricke et al 2022 ). Especially, studies exploring herbivory at the species level often struggle with small data sets, short time periods, biases in the selection of plant species, and young or transient plant communities (Kozlov and Zvereva 2017 ; Meyer et al 2017 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Effects of plant diversity on species-specific herbivory: patterns and mechanisms

Bröcher¹,

Ebeling²,

Hertzog

et al. 2023

Oecologia

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Invertebrate herbivory can shape plant communities when impacting growth and fitness of some plant species more than other species. Previous studies showed that herbivory varies among plant species and that species-specific herbivory is affected by the diversity of the surrounding plant community. However, mechanisms underlying this variation are still poorly understood. In this study, we investigate how plant traits and plant apparency explain differences in herbivory among plant species and we explore the effect of plant community diversity on these species-specific relationships. We found that species differed in the herbivory they experienced. Forbs were three times more damaged by herbivores than grasses. Variability within grasses was caused by differences in leaf dry matter content (LDMC). Furthermore, higher plant diversity increased herbivory on 15 plant species and decreased herbivory on nine species. Variation within forb and grass species in their response to changing plant diversity was best explained by species’ physical resistance (LDMC, forbs) and biomass (grasses). Overall, our results show that herbivory and diversity effects on herbivory differ among species, and that, depending on the plant functional group, either species-specific traits or apparency are driving those differences. Thus, herbivores might selectively consume palatable forbs or abundant grasses with contrasting consequences for plant community composition in grasslands dominated by either forbs or grasses.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Effects of plant diversity on species-specific herbivory: patterns and mechanisms

Bröcher¹,

Ebeling²,

Hertzog

et al. 2023

Oecologia

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“…While in general fungal pathogens are more common on grasses and insect herbivores are more common on forbs (Ebeling et al, 2022;Fricke et al, 2022), a pattern also borne out in our experiment (Fig. S8), it appears that both forbs and C4 grasses can benefit from release of insect herbivory during recruitment.…”

Section: 1enemy Release Increases Early Survival and Recruitment Of C...supporting

confidence: 73%

“…However, this previous work focused on biomass rather than early survival, again emphasising the importance of considering different exotic life-history stages. While in general fungal pathogens are more common on grasses and insect herbivores are more common on forbs (Ebeling et al ., 2022; Fricke et al ., 2022), a pattern also borne out in our experiment (Fig. S8), it appears that both forbs and C4 grasses can benefit from release of insect herbivory during recruitment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aboveground enemy release increases seedling survival in grasslands

Brian,

Shepherd,

Pérez-Navarro

et al. 2023

Preprint

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The enemy release hypothesis is a popular hypothesis to explain the success of invasive plants. Enemy release studies typically focus on single species or types of communities, feature indirect experimental manipulations that apply pesticides to whole communities not individual species, and only examine responses of established plants or plant populations, limiting their generality. Using a novel species-specific approach, we examine whether enemy release can enhance seedling survival and recruitment of 16 grassland species by experimentally linking enemy release with enhanced plant performance.We planted seedlings of 16 native grassland species from two functional groups (C4 grasses and non-legume forbs) into two grassland sites (early and mid succession). We hand-painted 1,548 individual seedlings with pesticides (insecticide and fungicide) over the course of a growing season to enforce aboveground species-specific enemy release, and tested whether it enhanced survival relative to untreated controls. Using native species enabled us to directly test effects of enemy release, while avoiding confounding factors like unknown invasion histories. Of the 16 native study species, 13 are naturalised/invasive outside of their native ranges.Release from insects increased seedling survival by 80% on average, with no additional benefit of release from fungal pathogens. This effect was consistent across functional groups and community successional stages, and was strongest in resource-acquisitive species. The size of species’ performance benefits from enemy release were positively correlated with the number of regions globally where each species has been introduced and naturalised.Synthesis. Previous studies of enemy release have centred on adults and findings have varied among species. We found a positive effect of release from insect herbivores early in colonisation – a trend that held across functional groups and types of resident community. We posit that the consistent vulnerability of seedlings vis-à-vis later life stages leads to this more ubiquitous benefit of enemy release. Enemy release may therefore aid initial recruitment of most, if not all, plants during the invasion process, even if enemies rapidly accumulate. The positive correlations between the benefits of enemy release for seedlings, species’ life history strategies and global naturalisation patterns provide compelling hypotheses for future research.

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Release from aboveground enemies increases seedling survival in grasslands

Brian,

Shepherd,

Pérez‐Navarro

et al. 2024

Journal of Ecology

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Plant enemies can influence plant community assembly and structure. However, it is unclear how insect herbivores and fungal pathogens affect seedling recruitment. Complex interactions with competition and resource availability make it difficult to isolate the effect of enemies. This uncertainty can impede understanding of community assembly drivers, species coexistence and trophic interactions; and limits hypothesis testing such as of the enemy release hypothesis, a key hypothesis in invasion biology. Using a novel species‐specific approach, we examine how enemies affect seedling survival and recruitment of 16 grassland species. We planted seedlings of 16 native species from two functional groups (C4 grasses and non‐legume forbs) into two grassland sites (early and mid‐succession). We hand‐painted 1512 individual seedlings with pesticides (insecticide and fungicide) over the course of one growing season to enforce aboveground species‐specific release from enemies and tested whether it enhanced survival relative to untreated controls. Applying treatments to individuals allowed us to test for the effect of enemies on plant performance while controlling for contexts such as competition from the resident community and resource levels. Release from insects increased seedling survival by 56% on average, with no additional benefit of release from fungal pathogens. This effect was observed for both forbs and C4 grasses across both sites and was strongest in resource‐acquisitive species. There was no effect of the mean phylogenetic distance between our target species and the resident plant community, or of light availability or soil moisture. Synthesis. The significant positive effect of release from insect herbivores on survival early in colonisation—a trend that held across functional groups and types of resident community—suggests insects play an important regulatory role in community assembly, especially for resource‐acquisitive species. As variation between species could be explained by traits but not by phylogeny, we emphasise the importance of trait‐based approaches to plant community ecology. Our results also support the key mechanism (increased performance following release from enemies) underlying the enemy release hypothesis. Enemy release may therefore aid initial recruitment of plants during the invasion process.

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Plant richness, land use and temperature differently shape invertebrate leaf-chewing herbivory on plant functional groups

Cited by 5 publications

References 54 publications

Effects of plant diversity on species-specific herbivory: patterns and mechanisms

Effects of plant diversity on species-specific herbivory: patterns and mechanisms

Aboveground enemy release increases seedling survival in grasslands

Release from aboveground enemies increases seedling survival in grasslands

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