Early positive effects of tree species richness on herbivory in a large-scale forest biodiversity experiment influence tree growth
Publikation: Beiträge in Zeitschriften › Zeitschriftenaufsätze › Forschung › begutachtet
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Early positive effects of tree species richness on herbivory in a large-scale forest biodiversity experiment influence tree growth. / Schuldt, Andreas; Bruelheide, Helge; Härdtle, Werner et al.
in: Journal of Ecology, Jahrgang 103, Nr. 3, 01.05.2015, S. 563-571.Publikation: Beiträge in Zeitschriften › Zeitschriftenaufsätze › Forschung › begutachtet
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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 -