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Forest diversity effects on insect herbivores: do leaf traits matter?
- Source :
- The New Phytologist
- Publication Year :
- 2019
-
Abstract
- Summary Insect herbivore damage and abundance are often reduced in diverse plant stands. However, few studies have explored whether this phenomenon is a result of plant diversity effects on host plant traits.We explored indirect effects of tree species diversity on herbivory via changes in leaf traits in a long‐term forest diversity experiment in Finland. We measured 16 leaf traits and leaf damage by four insect guilds (chewers, gall formers, leaf miners and rollers) on silver birch (Betula pendula) trees growing in one‐, two‐, three‐ and five‐species mixtures.A decline in the frequency of birch in mixed stands resulted in reduced leaf area. This, in turn, mediated the reduction in chewing damage in mixed stands. In contrast, associational resistance of birch to leaf miners was not trait‐mediated but driven directly by concurrent declines in birch frequency as tree species richness increased.Our results show that leaf trait variation across the diversity gradient might promote associational resistance, but these patterns are driven by an increase in the relative abundance of heterospecifics rather than by tree species richness per se. Therefore, accounting for concurrent changes in stand structure and key foliar traits is important for the interpretation of plant diversity effects and predictions of associational patterns.
- Subjects :
- leaf traits
0106 biological sciences
0301 basic medicine
Insecta
Physiology
Plant Science
Forests
Biology
Models, Biological
01 natural sciences
Trees
biodiversity and ecosystem functioning
03 medical and health sciences
Quantitative Trait, Heritable
plant–herbivore interactions
Species Specificity
Abundance (ecology)
Animals
Gall
Herbivory
boreal forest
trait‐mediated effects
Relative species abundance
Herbivore
Full Paper
Resistance (ecology)
Ecology
Research
Satakunta forest diversity experiment
fungi
Taiga
food and beverages
Biodiversity
Full Papers
15. Life on land
Plant Leaves
030104 developmental biology
Betula pendula
ta1181
Species richness
human activities
010606 plant biology & botany
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 0028646X
- Volume :
- 221
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- New Phytologist
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....7a4c3a087e7bdf4a012199c4ab578a2f