Plant diversity effects on pollinating and herbivorous insects can be linked to plant stoichiometry

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

  • Maike Abbas
  • Alexandra Maria Klein
  • Anne Ebeling
  • Yvonne Oelmann
  • Robert Ptacnik
  • Wolfgang W. Weisser
  • Helmut Hillebrand

Changes in plant diversity have consequences for higher trophic levels, e.g., higher plant diversity can enhance the reproduction and fitness of plant-associated insects. This response of higher trophic levels potentially depends on diversity-related changes in both resource quantity (abundance) and quality (nutritional content). The availability of elemental nutrients in plant resources is one aspect of nutritional quality, but has rarely been addressed as a pathway relating plant diversity to associated insects. Using the experimental plant diversity gradient of a large biodiversity grassland project, the Jena-Experiment, we analysed the %C, %N and %P and the molar ratios of those elements (C:N, C:P and N:P) in a pollinating bee, Chelostoma distinctum, and an herbivorous grasshopper, Chorthippus parallelus, reared on plots of different plant diversity. Insects showed higher content of C, N and P (% dry mass), and lower C:N and C:P ratios than plants. C:N ratios were significantly higher in grasshoppers than in bees and higher in females than in males of both species. Increasing plant species richness increased the C:N ratio of male bees and female grasshoppers. In both groups, stoichiometry was positively related to plant stoichiometry (male bees: C:P and N:P; grasshoppers: C:N and N:P). Path analysis revealed that diversity-driven changes in plant elemental composition can have consequences for abundance and chemical composition of higher trophic levels, with different responses of the two functional groups.

Original languageEnglish
JournalBasic and Applied Ecology
Volume15
Issue number2
Pages (from-to)169-178
Number of pages10
ISSN1439-1791
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 03.2014

    Research areas

  • Ecosystems Research - CARBON, Generalist grasshopper, Grassland, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Plant-insect interactions, Solitary bee, Trophic levels

Recently viewed

Publications

  1. Development and validation of a U.S. and German short version of the Later Life Workplace Index (LLWI-S)
  2. Uncertainty analysis of the coefficients of friction during the tightening process of bolted joints
  3. Sliding Mode Control and Observer-Based Disturbance Compensation for a Permanent Magnet Linear Motor
  4. Policy schemes, operational strategies and system integration of residential co-generation fuel cells.
  5. Using an adaptive memory strategy to improve a multistart heuristic for sequencing by hybridization
  6. Simultantestprozedur für globale Nullhypothesen bei beliebiger Abhängigkeitsstruktur der Einzeltests
  7. Traits of dominant plant species drive normalized difference vegetation index in grasslands globally
  8. Self-Compassion as a Facet of Neuroticism? A Reply to the Comments of Neff, Tóth-Király, and Colosimo (2018)
  9. The influence of the radial internal clearance on the dynamic response of self-aligning ball bearings
  10. Abflussverhältnisse steuern die Retention von Pestiziden und hydrologischen Tracern in Feuchtflächen
  11. Impact assessment of emissions stabilization scenarios with and without induced technological change
  12. Individual Scans Fusion in Virtual Knowledge Base for Navigation of Mobile Robotic Group with 3D TVS
  13. Analytic reproducibility in articles receiving open data badges at the journal Psychological Science
  14. Psychometric Properties of the German Short Version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory - Student Survey
  15. Modernizing persistence–bioaccumulation–toxicity (PBT) assessment with high throughput animal-free methods
  16. Relative inequality and poverty in Germany and the United States using alternative equivalence scales
  17. Control of a two-thermoelectric-cooler system for ice-clamping application using Lyapunov based approach
  18. Super-Twisting Sliding Mode Control for Differential Steering Systems in Vehicular Yaw Tracking Motion
  19. More than only skin deep: Appearance self-concept predicts most of secondary school students’ self-esteem
  20. Do student ratings of classroom management tell us more about teachers or about classroom composition?
  21. The Gender Composition of Establishments' Workforces and Gender Gaps in Wages and Leadership Positions
  22. Arithmetische Basiskompetenzen von Schülerinnen und Schülern in den Klassen 5 bis 7 der Sekundarstufe
  23. Zur psychophysischen Bedeutung c-förmiger Simplex-Organisationen bei der Multidimensionalen Skalierung
  24. Studienwahlmotive von Bewerberinnen und Bewerbern auf ein Lehramtsstudium und auf andere Studiengänge
  25. Stratification of stakeholders for participation in the governance of coastal social-ecological systems
  26. Wirkungen alternativer Steuerreformmodelle auf die Einkommensverteilung von freien und anderen Berufen
  27. AN INVESTIGATION OF LENGTH ESTIMATION SKILLS OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WITH MILD INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY