Contrasting Effects of Plant Richness and Composition on Insect Communities: A Field Experiment
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Cites background from "Contrasting Effects of Plant Richne..."
...Although the taxonomic and functional composition and the physical structure of vegetation are closely linked, results on which component of vegetation EH is more important for herbivore diversity vary (e.g. Haddad et al. 2001; Brose 2003; De Ara ujo et al. 2013)....
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814 citations
Cites background from "Contrasting Effects of Plant Richne..."
...For example, changes in plant diversity affect insect species diversity, because plant and insect diversity are often positively correlated (Murdoch et al., 1972; Haddad et al., 2001)....
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679 citations
References
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"Contrasting Effects of Plant Richne..." refers background or result in this paper
...…species or for the entire insect community) than polycultures composed of very different plant functional groups, such as corn (grass), beans (legume), and squash (forb; Bach 1980a; Risch 1981; Andow 1990), or agricultural crops and weeds (Pimentel 1961; Tahvanainen and Root 1972; Root 1973)....
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...Although previous studies did not manipulate plant diversity as we did in this study (monocultures were typically compared with polycultures), they have found lower insect abundances in diverse plant communities (i.e., Pimentel 1961; Tahvanainen and Root 1972; Root 1973; Bach 1980a; Risch 1981)....
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...The loss of plant diversity has been reported to cause higher insect abundances, particularly abundances of specialist insect pests (Elton 1958; Pimentel 1961; Root 1973; Kareiva 1983; Risch et al. 1983; Strong et al. 1984; Andow 1991), and to lower insect species richness (Murdoch et al. 1972;…...
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3,251 citations
"Contrasting Effects of Plant Richne..." refers background in this paper
...1 # 3.0 to a constant dry weight at 55 C, and weighed....
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...Their high tissue nitrogen would then provide a higher-quality resource for herbivores (e.g., Mattson 1980; Strong et al. 1984)....
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...…variables, like soluble N, amino acid concentration, or soluble carbohydrates, are also important measures of plant tissue quality to insects (e.g., Mattson 1980; Prestidge 1982; Prestidge and McNeill 1983; Strong et al. 1984; Brodbeck and Strong 1987; Nordin et al. 1998), we assumed that plant…...
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2,762 citations
"Contrasting Effects of Plant Richne..." refers background or methods or result in this paper
...1997, 1998; Tilman et al. 1997b; Symstad et al. 1998; Hector et al. 1999)....
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...Insects and terrestrial arthropods were collected three times during the season of greatest plant production, on June 20, July 28, and August 22, 1997....
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...The result that C4 grasses depress insect abundances emphasizes one critical effect of diversity—the “sampling effect” (Aarssen 1997; Huston 1997; Tilman et al. 1997c)....
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...Our results were not caused by a single dominant species, a concern that has been raised in debate over the mechanisms underlying responses in diversity experiments (Aarssen 1997; Huston 1997; Tilman 1997; Tilman et al. 1997c; Hector 1998; Loreau 1998; Tilman 1999)....
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...…complex than those of recent studies that have found that plant functional group richness, plant functional group composition, or both have similar effects on ecosystem responses to changes in plant diversity (Hooper and Vitousek 1997; Tilman et al. 1997b; Symstad et al. 1998; Hector et al. 1999)....
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2,745 citations
"Contrasting Effects of Plant Richne..." refers background or result in this paper
...Although previous studies did not manipulate plant diversity as we did in this study (monocultures were typically compared with polycultures), they have found lower insect abundances in diverse plant communities (i.e., Pimentel 1961; Tahvanainen and Root 1972; Root 1973; Bach 1980a; Risch 1981)....
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...…plant diversity has been reported to cause higher insect abundances, particularly abundances of specialist insect pests (Elton 1958; Pimentel 1961; Root 1973; Kareiva 1983; Risch et al. 1983; Strong et al. 1984; Andow 1991), and to lower insect species richness (Murdoch et al. 1972; Southwood et…...
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...Herbivore abundances are thought to be higher in plant monocultures, where specialist herbivores are more likely to find and to remain on their hosts and/or generalist predators are less abundant (Root 1973)....
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...…species or for the entire insect community) than polycultures composed of very different plant functional groups, such as corn (grass), beans (legume), and squash (forb; Bach 1980a; Risch 1981; Andow 1990), or agricultural crops and weeds (Pimentel 1961; Tahvanainen and Root 1972; Root 1973)....
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...Most previous studies of insect responses to plant diversity have focused on one insect species (Tahvanainen and Root 1972; Bach 1980a; Risch 1981; Andow 1991; but see Root 1973)....
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Frequently Asked Questions (8)
Q2. What was the significance of C4 grasses in predicting insect abundances?
The importance of C4 grasses in affecting insect abundances was shown in analyses where its presence or absence replaced functional group richness as the significant variable predicting insect abundances.
Q3. What is the important factor causing lower insect abundances at higher plant diversity?
In such systems, changes in plant functional group composition may have been the most important factor causing lower insect abundances at higher plant diversity.
Q4. Why did the authors analyze differences in insect abundance in plots without C4 grasses?
Because of the strong, negative influence of C4 grasses.001 on insect abundance, the authors analyzed differences in insect abundances in plots with and without C4 grasses.
Q5. How does higher plant diversity affect insect abundances?
Higher plant diversity may then have increased insect abundances indirectly by increasing plant biomass and thus the quantity of resources for insects.
Q6. What is the effect of predators and parasitoids on insect diversity?
There was some evidence that higher predator and parasitoid diversity may have increased herbivore diversity, as would be predicted if predators and parasitoids limit the abundance of otherwise dominant herbivores (Paine 1966; Tilman and Pacala 1993; Siemann et al. 1998).
Q7. What is the relationship between insect abundance and plant species richness?
After controlling for the effects of insect abundance, herbivores and predators were the only trophic groups whose species richness showed a significant, positive relationship to plant species richness.
Q8. What was the effect of the experimental plots on insect abundance?
the experimental plots were relatively unproductive, and the availability of food resources limited insect abundances and thus species richness.