Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1038/s41467-019-09448-8
Licence creative commons licence
Title (Primary) Multiple plant diversity components drive consumer communities across ecosystems
Author Schuldt, A.; Ebeling, A.; Kunz, M.; Staab, M.; Guimarães-Steinicke, C.; Bachmann, D.; Buchmann, N.; Durka, W. ORCID logo ; Fichtner, A.; Fornoff, F.; Härdtle, W.; Hertzog, L.R.; Klein, A.-M.; Roscher, C.; Schaller, J.; von Oheimb, G.; Weigelt, A.; Wirth, C.; Weisser, W.; Zhang, J.; Bruelheide, H.; Eisenhauer, N.
Source Titel Nature Communications
Year 2019
Department BZF; iDiv; PHYDIV
Volume 10
Page From art. 1460
Language englisch
Supplements https://static-content.springer.com/esm/art%3A10.1038%2Fs41467-019-09448-8/MediaObjects/41467_2019_9448_MOESM1_ESM.pdf
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Abstract Humans modify ecosystems and biodiversity worldwide, with negative consequences for ecosystem functioning. Promoting plant diversity is increasingly suggested as a mitigation strategy. However, our mechanistic understanding of how plant diversity affects the diversity of heterotrophic consumer communities remains limited. Here, we disentangle the relative importance of key components of plant diversity as drivers of herbivore, predator, and parasitoid species richness in experimental forests and grasslands. We find that plant species richness effects on consumer species richness are consistently positive and mediated by elevated structural and functional diversity of the plant communities. The importance of these diversity components differs across trophic levels and ecosystems, cautioning against ignoring the fundamental ecological complexity of biodiversity effects. Importantly, plant diversity effects on higher trophic-level species richness are in many cases mediated by modifications of consumer abundances. In light of recently reported drastic declines in insect abundances, our study identifies important pathways connecting plant diversity and consumer diversity across ecosystems.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=21719
Schuldt, A., Ebeling, A., Kunz, M., Staab, M., Guimarães-Steinicke, C., Bachmann, D., Buchmann, N., Durka, W., Fichtner, A., Fornoff, F., Härdtle, W., Hertzog, L.R., Klein, A.-M., Roscher, C., Schaller, J., von Oheimb, G., Weigelt, A., Wirth, C., Weisser, W., Zhang, J., Bruelheide, H., Eisenhauer, N. (2019):
Multiple plant diversity components drive consumer communities across ecosystems
Nat. Commun. 10 , art. 1460 10.1038/s41467-019-09448-8