TY - JOUR

T1 - Early positive effects of tree species richness on herbivory in a large-scale forest biodiversity experiment influence tree growth

AU - Schuldt, Andreas

AU - Bruelheide, Helge

AU - Härdtle, Werner

AU - Aßmann, Thorsten

AU - Li, Ying

AU - Ma, Keping

AU - Oheimb, Goddert

AU - Zhang, Jiayong

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2015 The Authors. Journal of Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society.

PY - 2015/5/1

Y1 - 2015/5/1

N2 - Despite the importance of herbivory for the structure and functioning of species-rich forests, little is known about how herbivory is affected by tree species richness, and more specifically by random vs. non-random species loss.We assessed herbivore damage and its effects on tree growth in the early stage of a large-scale forest biodiversity experiment in subtropical China that features random and non-random extinction scenarios of tree mixtures numbering between one and 24 species. In contrast to random species loss, the non-random extinction scenarios were based on the tree species' local rarity and specific leaf area – traits that may strongly influence the way herbivory is affected by plant species richness.Herbivory increased with tree species richness across all scenarios and was unaffected by the different species compositions in the random and non-random extinction scenarios. Whereas tree growth rates were positively related to herbivory on plots with smaller trees, growth rates significantly declined with increasing herbivory on plots with larger trees. Our results suggest that the effects of herbivory on growth rates increase from monocultures to the most species-rich plant communities and that negative effects with increasing tree species richness become more pronounced with time as trees grow larger.Synthesis. Our results indicate that key trophic interactions can be quick to become established in forest plantations (i.e. already 2.5 years after tree planting). Stronger herbivory effects on tree growth with increasing tree species richness suggest a potentially important role of herbivory in regulating ecosystem functions and the structural development of species-rich forests from the very start of secondary forest succession. The lack of significant differences between the extinction scenarios, however, contrasts with findings from natural forests of higher successional age, where rarity had negative effects on herbivory. This indicates that the effects of non-random species loss could change with forest succession.

AB - Despite the importance of herbivory for the structure and functioning of species-rich forests, little is known about how herbivory is affected by tree species richness, and more specifically by random vs. non-random species loss.We assessed herbivore damage and its effects on tree growth in the early stage of a large-scale forest biodiversity experiment in subtropical China that features random and non-random extinction scenarios of tree mixtures numbering between one and 24 species. In contrast to random species loss, the non-random extinction scenarios were based on the tree species' local rarity and specific leaf area – traits that may strongly influence the way herbivory is affected by plant species richness.Herbivory increased with tree species richness across all scenarios and was unaffected by the different species compositions in the random and non-random extinction scenarios. Whereas tree growth rates were positively related to herbivory on plots with smaller trees, growth rates significantly declined with increasing herbivory on plots with larger trees. Our results suggest that the effects of herbivory on growth rates increase from monocultures to the most species-rich plant communities and that negative effects with increasing tree species richness become more pronounced with time as trees grow larger.Synthesis. Our results indicate that key trophic interactions can be quick to become established in forest plantations (i.e. already 2.5 years after tree planting). Stronger herbivory effects on tree growth with increasing tree species richness suggest a potentially important role of herbivory in regulating ecosystem functions and the structural development of species-rich forests from the very start of secondary forest succession. The lack of significant differences between the extinction scenarios, however, contrasts with findings from natural forests of higher successional age, where rarity had negative effects on herbivory. This indicates that the effects of non-random species loss could change with forest succession.

KW - Ecosystems Research

KW - Associational susceptibility

KW - BEF-China

KW - Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning

KW - Extinction scenarios

KW - Functional traits

KW - Plant-herbivore interactions

KW - Resource concentration

KW - Succession

KW - Trophic interactions

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84927645519&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/1365-2745.12396

DO - 10.1111/1365-2745.12396

M3 - Journal articles

C2 - 26690688

VL - 103

SP - 563

EP - 571

JO - Journal of Ecology

JF - Journal of Ecology

SN - 0022-0477

IS - 3

ER -