胜山阔叶红松林蚂蚁巢穴对其他地表节肢动物多样性的影响

为了阐明蚂蚁巢穴对其他地表节肢动物群落组成和多样性的影响,于2019年在胜山自然保护区的原始阔叶红松林内开展实验,并采用陷阱法收集地表节肢动物.共捕获地表节肢动物92266只,分别为蜈蚣目、盲蛛目、马陆目、蜘蛛目,大头蚁属和步甲科、隐翅虫科、葬甲科这8个类群;蚂蚁巢穴存在及到蚂蚁巢穴的不同距离对其他地表节肢动物个体数量...     

Disparate effects of plant genotypic diversity on foliage and litter arthropod communities

Intraspecific diversity can influence the structure of associated communities, though whether litter-based and foliage-based arthropod communities respond to intraspecific diversity in similar ways remains unclear. In this study, we compared the effects of host-plant genotype and genotypic diversity of the perennial plant, Solidago altissima, on the arthropod community associated with living plant tissue (foliage-based community) and microarthropods associated with leaf litter (litter-based community). We found that variation among host-plant genotypes had strong effects on the diversity and composition of foliage-based arthropods, but only weak effects on litter-based microarthropods. Furthermore, host-plant genotypic diversity was positively related to the abundance and diversity of foliage-based arthropods, and within the herbivore and predator trophic levels. In contrast, there were minimal effects of plant genotypic diversity on litter-based microarthropods in any trophic level. Our study illustrates that incorporating communities associated with living foliage and senesced litter into studies of community genetics can lead to very different conclusions about the importance of intraspecific diversity than when only foliage-based community responses are considered in isolation. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Drought negatively affects communities on a foundation tree: growth rings predict diversity

Understanding how communities respond to extreme climatic events is important for predicting the impact of climate change on biodiversity. The plant vigor and stress hypotheses provide a theoretical framework for understanding how arthropods respond to stress, but are rarely tested at the community level. Following a record drought, we compared the communities of arthropods on pinyon pine (Pinus edulis) that exhibited a gradient in physical traits related to environmental stress (e.g., growth rate, branch dieback, and needle retention). Six patterns emerged that show how one of the predicted outcomes of climate change in the southwestern USA (i.e., increased drought severity) alters the communities of a foundation tree species. In accordance with the plant vigor hypothesis, increasing tree stress was correlated with an eight to tenfold decline in arthropod species richness and abundance. Trees that were more similar in their level of stress had more similar arthropod communities. Both foliage quantity and quality contributed to arthropod community structure. Individual species and feeding groups differed in their responses to plant stress, but most were negatively affected. Arthropod richness (r ² = 0.48) and abundance (r ² = 0.48) on individual trees were positively correlated with the tree’s radial growth during drought. This relationship suggests that tree ring analysis may be used as a predictor of arthropod diversity, which is similar to findings with ectomycorrhizal fungi. A contrast of our findings on arthropod abundance with published data on colonization by mutualistic fungi on the same trees demonstrates that at low stress these two communities respond differently, but at high stress both are negatively affected. These results suggest that the effect of extreme climatic events such as drought on foundation tree species are likely to decrease multi-trophic diversity and shift arthropod community composition, which in turn could cascade to affect other associated taxa.     

拉萨半干旱河谷植被对地表节肢动物多样性的影响

调查不同植被恢复措施下拉萨半干旱河谷地表节肢动物类群多样性以及群落结构,为揭示地表节肢动物多样性对植被恢复措施的响应具有重要意义。采用陷阱法对青藏高原半干旱河谷砂生槐灌丛、人工杨树林和藏沙蒿灌丛样地地表节肢动物群落组成、类群多样性以及功能群结构进行调查,计算各处理地表节肢动物类群相对多度、类群丰富度、多样性指数、Cody指数和S9rensen指数。共采集半干旱河谷地表节肢动物个体数738,隶属5纲15目51科。砂生槐灌丛样地收集节肢动物40科,占所有类群78.4%,杨树人工林和藏沙蒿灌丛样地调查到土壤节肢动物类群为30和23科,分别占总科数的58.8%和45.1%。各植被恢复类型在目的分类单元下,双翅目、膜翅目和弹尾目类群相对多度较高,而在科的分类单元下,驼跳科、蚁科和漏斗网蛛科为拉萨半干旱河谷优势地表节肢动物类群。砂生槐灌丛节肢动物类群丰富度和多样性指数最高,人工杨树林最低。砂生槐灌丛和藏沙蒿灌丛地表节肢动物营养功能群均以捕食性为主。不同植被群落间群落相似性也有差异,砂生槐与藏沙蒿灌丛间相似性较高,而人工杨树林与藏沙蒿之间较低。不同植物群落组成和结构影响土壤理化特性、地表凋落物数量、质量和微生境条件,进而影响地表节肢动物群落组成、数量和营养功能群。砂生槐灌丛样地具有较高节肢动物类群丰富度和捕食性动物类群,有利于拉萨半干旱河谷地区地表节肢动物多样性维护。     

Temporal dynamics in non-additive responses of arthropods to host-plant genotypic diversity

Genotypic diversity within host‐plant populations has been linked to the diversity of associated arthropod communities, but the temporal dynamics of this relationship, along with the underlying mechanisms, are not well understood. In this study, we employed a common garden experiment that manipulated the number of genotypes within patches of Solidago altissima, tall goldenrod, to contain 1, 3, 6 or 12 genotypes m^?2 and measured both host‐plant and arthropod responses to genotypic diversity throughout an entire growing season. Despite substantial phenological changes in host plants and in the composition of the arthropod community, we detected consistent positive responses of arthropod diversity to host‐plant genotypic diversity throughout all but the end of the growing season. Arthropod richness and abundance increased with genotypic diversity by up to～65%. Furthermore, arthropod responses were non‐additive for most of the growing season, with up to 52% more species occurring in mixtures than the number predicted by summing the number of arthropods associated with component genotypes in monoculture. Non‐additive arthropod responses were likely driven by concurrent non‐additive increases in host‐plant aboveground biomass. Qualitative differences among host‐plant genotypes were also important early in the season, when specialist herbivores dominated the arthropod community. Neither arthropod diversity nor flower number was associated with genotypic diversity at the end of the growing season, when generalist floral‐associated herbivores dominated. Taken together, these results show that focusing on the temporal dynamics in the quantity and quality of co‐occurring host‐plant genotypes and associated community composition can help uncover the mechanisms that link intraspecific host‐plant diversity to the structure of arthropod communities. Furthermore, consistent non‐additive effects in genotypically diverse plots may limit the predictability of the arthropod community based solely on the genetic make‐up of a host‐plant patch.     

Effects of plant diversity, plant productivity and habitat parameters on arthropod abundance in montane European grasslands

Arthropod abundance has been hypothesized to be correlated with plant diversity but the results of previous studies have been equivocal. In contrast, plant productivity, vegetation structure, abiotic site conditions, and the physical disturbance of habitats, are factors that interact with plant diversity, and that have been shown to influence arthropod abundance. We studied the combined effect of plant species diversity, productivity and site characteristics on arthropod abundance in 71 managed grasslands in central Germany using multivariate statistics. For each site we determined plant species cover, plant community biomass (productivity), macro- and micronutrients in the soil, and characterized the location of sites with respect to orographic parameters as well as the current and historic management regimes. Arthropods were sampled using a suction sampler and classified a priori into functional groups (FGs). We found that arthropod abundance was not correlated with plant species richness, effective diversity or Camargo's evenness, even when influences of environmental variables were taken into account. In contrast, plant community composition was highly correlated with arthropod abundances. Plant community productivity influenced arthropod abundance but explained only a small proportion of the variance. The abundances of the different arthropod FGs were influenced differentially by agricultural management, soil characteristics, vegetation structure and by interactions between different FGs of arthropods. Herbivores, carnivores and detritivores reacted differently to variation in environmental variables in a manner consistent with their feeding mode. Our results show that in natural grassland systems arthropod abundance is not a simple function of plant species richness, and they emphasize the important role of plant community composition for the abundance patterns of the arthropod assemblages.     

Structure of ground-dwelling arthropod assemblages in vegetation units of Área Natural Protegida Península Valdés,Patagonia, Argentina

Knowing the spatial variation of insect and arachnid assemblages and their relationship with habitat variables is critical to understand the structure and dynamics of these communities in arid environments. The aim of this paper was to analyze the variation in ground-dwelling arthropod assemblages across three representative vegetation units of the Área Natural Protegida Península Valdés (Patagonia, Argentina). We asked whether environmental differences among representative vegetation units were associated to distinct arthropod assemblages. We selected three plant communities: grass, dwarf-shrub, and shrub steppes, and established three sampling sites within each of them. We measured variables of vegetation structure and soil characteristics and collected the arthropods using 10 pitfall traps per site. We analyzed the structure of arthropod assemblages at both family and ant species taxonomic levels. Each plant community displayed a distinctive assemblage, with differences in diversity, taxa abundance, trophic structure and functional groups of ants. Vegetation variables explained a higher proportion of the variation in the structure of the ground-dwelling arthropod assemblages than the soil variables. This work highlights the importance of the different vegetation units for the conservation of ground-dwelling arthropod biodiversity in Península Valdés.     

Plant diversity effects on arthropods and arthropod-dependent ecosystem functions in a biodiversity experiment

Biodiversity-ecosystem function experiments test how species diversity influences fundamental ecosystem processes. Historically, arthropod driven functions, such as herbivory and pest-control, have been thought to be influenced by direct and indirect associations among species. Although a number of studies have evaluated how plant diversity affects arthropod communities and arthropod-mediated ecosystem processes, it remains unclear whether diversity effects on arthropods are sufficiently consistent over time such that observed responses can be adequately predicted by classical hypotheses based on associational effects. By combining existing results from a long-term grassland biodiversity experiment (Jena Experiment) with new analyses, we evaluate the consistency of consumer responses within and across taxonomic, trophic, and trait-based (i.e. vertical stratification) groupings, and we consider which changes in arthropod community composition are associated with changes in consumer-mediated ecosystem functions.Overall, higher plant species richness supported more diverse and complex arthropod communities and this pattern was consistent across multiple years. Vegetation-associated arthropods responded more strongly to changes in plant species richness than ground-dwelling arthropods. Additionally, increases in plant species richness were associated with shifts in the species-abundance distributions for many, but not all taxa. For example, highly specialized consumers showed a decrease in dominance and an increase in the number of rare species with increasing plant species richness. Most ecosystem processes investigated responded to increases in plant species richness in the same way as the trophic group mediating the process, e.g. both herbivory and herbivore diversity increase with increasing plant species richness. In the Jena Experiment and other studies, inconsistencies between predictions based on classic hypotheses of associational effects and observed relationships between plant species richness and arthropod diversity likely reflect the influence of multi-trophic community dynamics and species functional trait distributions. Future research should focus on testing a broader array of mechanisms to unravel the biological processes underlying the biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships.     

Additive and interactive effects of plant genotypic diversity on arthropod communities and plant fitness

Recent research suggests that genetic diversity in plant populations can shape the diversity and abundance of consumer communities. We tested this hypothesis in a field experiment by manipulating patches of Evening Primrose ( Oenothera biennis ) to contain one, four or eight plant genotypes. We then surveyed 92 species of naturally colonizing arthropods. Genetically diverse plant patches had 18% more arthropod species, and a greater abundance of omnivorous and predacious arthropods, but not herbivores, compared with monocultures. The effects of genotypic diversity on arthropod communities were due to a combination of interactive and additive effects among genotypes within genetically diverse patches. Greater genetic diversity also led to a selective feedback, as mean genotype fitness was 27% higher in diverse patches than in monocultures. A comparison between our results and the literature reveals that genetic diversity and species diversity can have similar qualitative and quantitative effects on arthropod communities. Our findings also illustrate the benefit of preserving genetic variation to conserve species diversity and interactions within multitrophic communities.     

Relationships between arthropod richness,evenness, and diversity are altered by complementarity among plant genotypes

Biodiversity is quantified via richness (e.g., the number of species), evenness (the relative abundance distribution of those species), or proportional diversity (a combination of richness and evenness, such as the Shannon index, H′). While empirical studies show no consistent relationship between these aspects of biodiversity within communities, the mechanisms leading to inconsistent relationships have received little attention. Here, using common evening primrose (Oenothera biennis) and its associated arthropod community, we show that relationships between arthropod richness, evenness, and proportional diversity are altered by plant genotypic richness. Arthropod richness increased with O. biennis genotypic richness due to an abundance-driven accumulation of species in response to greater plant biomass. Arthropod evenness and proportional diversity decreased with plant genotypic richness due to a nonadditive increase in abundance of a dominant arthropod, the generalist florivore/omnivore Plagiognathas politus (Miridae). The greater quantity of flowers and buds produced in polycultures—which resulted from positive complementarity among O. biennis genotypes—increased the abundance of this dominant insect. Using choice bioassays, we show that floral quality did not change in plant genotypic mixtures. These results elucidate mechanisms for how plant genotypic richness can modify relationships between arthropod richness, evenness, and proportional diversity. More broadly, our results suggest that trophic interactions may be a previously underappreciated factor controlling relationships between these different aspects of biodiversity.     

人工固沙植被恢复对地表节肢动物群落组成及多样性的影响

人工绿洲是干旱区主要的自然景观之一,为了维护绿洲稳定而营建的防护林强烈改变地表生态水文过程,进而影响着地上和地下生物多样性。然而,以往的研究对地上植被关注较多,而对土壤动物研究较少。以张掖绿洲外围人工固沙植被群落和天然固沙植被群落为研究对象,探讨人工固沙植被恢复对荒漠地表节肢动物群落组成及多样性的影响及不同动物类群对植被变化的响应模式。研究表明,天然固沙植被群落转变为人工固沙植被群落显著降低了地表节肢动物数量,但提高了地表节肢动物类群丰富度和多样性,这在5月份表现尤为明显。植被类型对地表节肢动物群落的影响不同,8月人工柽柳林群落地表节肢动物活动密度、类群丰富度和多样性均显著高于人工梭梭林群落。人工固沙植被恢复显著降低了适应荒漠环境的拟步甲科甲虫,而蚁科和部分蜘蛛的数量显著增加,它们对人工固沙植被恢复的响应模式不同决定了群落结构及多样性的变化规律。此外,研究还发现一些地表节肢动物类群对不同生境具有强烈的指示作用,如拟步甲科等可指示荒漠生境,潮虫科等可指示梭梭林生境,而蠼螋科和狼蛛科等可指示柽柳林生境。综上所述,人工栽植固沙灌木形成的固沙植被群落导致了一些适应荒漠环境的地表节肢动物类群的数量降低,但也为更多的地表节肢动物类群提供了适应栖居环境和充足的食物资源等,从而提高了地表节肢动物的多样性。     

Shrubs and species identity effects on the distribution and diversity of ground-dwelling arthropods in a Gobi desert

Disentangling the relationship between shrub vegetation and ground-dwelling arthropods at multiple levels of taxonomic resolution is essential to developing a suitable management strategy for the conservation of shrub-associated arthropod biodiversity in shrubland ecosystems. Using Gobi desert (dominated by shrub species Nitraria sphaerocarpa and Reaumuria soongorica) occurring widely in inland arid areas of northwest China as a model system, we sampled ground-dwelling arthropods by pitfall trapping method under canopies of both shrubs and in intershrub bare areas during spring, summer and autumn. Our aim was to determine whether the presence and species identity of shrubs influence the distribution of ground-dwelling arthropods and whether the influence of shrub presence and species identity differs among trophic and taxonomic groups. At the community level, total arthropod abundance and species richness were significantly greater under shrubs than in intershrub bare habitats, whereas more arthropods were captured under N. sphaerocarpa than under R. soongorica. At the trophic group level, the abundance of predator and decomposer arthropods was significantly greater under shrubs than in intershrub bare habitats, whereas herbivore and decomposer arthropods were more abundant under N. sphaerocarpa than under R. soongorica. At the family level, the abundance of Carabidae, Gnaphosidae, Karschiidae, Tenebrionidae and Thomisidae was consistently much greater under shrubs than in intershrub bare habitats, whereas that of Formicidae, Philodromidae and Tettigoniidae did not differ between the shrub microhabitats and the intershrub bare habitats. However, the abundance of Curculionidae under R. soongorica and the abundance of Geotrupidae under N. sphaerocarpa were significantly lower than that in intershrub bare habitats. N. sphaerocarpa was commonly preferred by arthropods in the families of Curculionidae and Tenebrionidae, whereas R. soongorica was commonly preferred by arthropods in the family Geotrupidae, but shrub species identity did not affect the abundance of the remaining families. Our results suggest that shrubs and species identity play important roles in structuring ground-dwelling arthropod communities, but the response of arthropods differed among trophic or taxonomic groups. This study may have important implications for the conservation of invertebrate biodiversity in Gobi desert ecosystems.     

Diversity cascades in alfalfa fields: from plant quality to agroecosystem diversity

To examine top-down and bottom-up influences on managed terrestrial communities, we manipulated plant resources and arthropod abundance in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) fields. We modified arthropod communities using three nonfactorial manipulations: pitfall traps to remove selected arthropods, wooden crates to create habitat heterogeneity, and an arthropod removal treatment using a reversible leaf blower. These manipulations were crossed with fertilizer additions, which were applied to half of the plots. We found strong effects of fertilizer on plant quality and biomass, and these effects cascaded up to increase herbivore abundance and diversity. The predator community also exhibited a consistent positive effect on the maintenance of herbivore species richness and abundance. These top-down changes in arthropods did not cascade down to affect plant biomass; however, plant quality (saponin content) increased with higher herbivore densities. These results corroborate previous studies in alfalfa that show complex indirect effects, such as trophic cascades, can operate in agricultural systems, but the specifics of the interactions depend on the assemblages of arthropods involved.     

Arthropod community diversity and trophic structure: a comparison between extremes of plant stress

Abstract.  1. Previous studies have shown that plant stress and plant vigour impact the preference and performance of many insect species. Global climate-change scenarios suggest that some regions such as continental interiors may become increasingly subject to severe drought. In combination, these two issues suggest that drought-driven plant stress may impact insect communities on a landscape scale. While there have been many population studies relating plant stress to the life history of individual herbivore species, far less is known about how plant stress affects entire communities.
2. To study the effect of plant stress on arthropod communities, arthropods were sampled from the canopies of pinyon pines ( Pinus edulis ) growing at sites with a history of chronically high environmental stress (e.g. lower water potentials, soil moisture, and reduced growth rates), and those growing under more favourable conditions. Sampling in these environments yielded >59 000 arthropods, representing 287 species from 14 orders and 80 families, and revealed three major community patterns.
3. First, chronic stress significantly altered community composition. Second, trees growing under high stress supported about 1/10th the number of arthropods, and roughly half the species as trees growing under more favourable conditions. Third, of the 33 abundant herbivore species that exhibited a significantly skewed distribution towards either high- or low-stress trees, 73% were skewed with higher numbers on low-stress trees.
4. The pattern of potentially reduced arthropod diversity and abundance on stressed pines observed in this study may further compound the loss of species resulting from the recent, landscape-scale drought-induced mortality of pines in the southwestern USA.     

Declines in a ground-dwelling arthropod community during an invasion by Sahara mustard (Brassica tournefortii) in aeolian sand habitats

Sahara Mustard (Brassica tournefortii; hereafter mustard), an exotic plant species, has invaded habitats throughout the arid southwestern United States. Mustard has reached high densities across aeolian sand habitats of southwestern deserts, including five distinct sand habitats in the eastern Coachella Valley, California. We examined trends in ground-dwelling arthropod community structure concurrent with mustard invasion in 90 plots within those habitats from 2003 to 2011 (n = 773 plot·years). We expected arthropod communities to respond negatively to mustard invasion because previous work documented significant negative impacts of mustard on diversity and biomass of native plants, the primary resource base for many of the arthropods. Arthropod abundance and species richness declined during the study period while mustard cover increased, and arthropod metrics were negatively related to mustard cover across all plots. When controlling for non-target environmental correlates (e.g. perennial frequency and precipitation) and for potential factors that we suspected of mediating mustard effects (e.g. native cover and sand compaction), negative relationships with mustard remained statistically supported. Nevertheless, arthropod richness’s relationship decreased slightly in strength and significance suggesting that mechanistic pathways may be both direct (via habitat structure) and indirect (via native cover suppression and sand compaction). However, mechanistic pathways for mustard effects, particularly on arthropod abundance, remain unclear. Most arthropod taxa, including most detritivores, decreased through time and were negatively related to mustard cover. In contrast, many predators were positively related to mustard. In total, our study provides substantial evidence for a negative effect of Sahara mustard on the structure of a ground-dwelling arthropod community.     

Effects of large herbivores on grassland arthropod diversity

Both arthropods and large grazing herbivores are important components and drivers of biodiversity in grassland ecosystems, but a synthesis of how arthropod diversity is affected by large herbivores has been largely missing. To fill this gap, we conducted a literature search, which yielded 141 studies on this topic of which 24 simultaneously investigated plant and arthropod diversity. Using the data from these 24 studies, we compared the responses of plant and arthropod diversity to an increase in grazing intensity. This quantitative assessment showed no overall significant effect of increasing grazing intensity on plant diversity, while arthropod diversity was generally negatively affected. To understand these negative effects, we explored the mechanisms by which large herbivores affect arthropod communities: direct effects, changes in vegetation structure, changes in plant community composition, changes in soil conditions, and cascading effects within the arthropod interaction web. We identify three main factors determining the effects of large herbivores on arthropod diversity: (i) unintentional predation and increased disturbance, (ii) decreases in total resource abundance for arthropods (biomass) and (iii) changes in plant diversity, vegetation structure and abiotic conditions. In general, heterogeneity in vegetation structure and abiotic conditions increases at intermediate grazing intensity, but declines at both low and high grazing intensity. We conclude that large herbivores can only increase arthropod diversity if they cause an increase in (a)biotic heterogeneity, and then only if this increase is large enough to compensate for the loss of total resource abundance and the increased mortality rate. This is expected to occur only at low herbivore densities or with spatio‐temporal variation in herbivore densities. As we demonstrate that arthropod diversity is often more negatively affected by grazing than plant diversity, we strongly recommend considering the specific requirements of arthropods when applying grazing management and to include arthropods in monitoring schemes. Conservation strategies aiming at maximizing heterogeneity, including regulation of herbivore densities (through human interventions or top‐down control), maintenance of different types of management in close proximity and rotational grazing regimes, are the most promising options to conserve arthropod diversity.     

Comparisons of arthropod assemblages on an invasive and native trees: abundance,diversity and damage

The success of exotic plants may be due to lower herbivore loads than those on native plants (Enemies Release Hypothesis). Predictions of this hypothesis include lower herbivore abundances, diversity, and damage on introduced plant species compared to native ones. Greater density or diversity of predators and parasitoids on exotic versus native plants may also reduce regulation of exotic plants by herbivores. To test these predictions, we measured arthropod abundance, arthropod diversity, and foliar damage on invasive Chinese tallow tree (Triadica sebifera) and three native tree species: silver maple (Acer saccharinum), sycamore (Platanus occidentalis), and sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua). Arthropod samples were collected with canopy sweep nets from six 20 year old monoculture plots of each species at a southeast Texas site. A total of 2,700 individuals and 285 species of arthropods were caught. Overall, the species richness and abundance of arthropods on tallow tree were similar to the natives. But, ordination (NMS) showed community composition differed on tallow tree compared to all three native trees. It supported an arthropod community that had relatively lower herbivore abundance but relatively more predator species compared to the native species examined. Leaves were collected to determine damage. Tallow tree experienced less mining damage than native trees. The results of this study supported the Enemies Release Hypothesis predictions that tallow tree would have low herbivore loads which may contribute to its invasive success. Moreover, a shift in the arthropod community to fewer herbivores without a reduction in predators may further limit regulation of this exotic species by herbivores in its introduced range.     

Geographic variation in a facultative mutualism: consequences for local arthropod composition and diversity

Geographic variation in the outcome of interspecific interactions may influence not only the evolutionary trajectories of species but also the structure of local communities. We investigated this community consequence of geographic variation for a facultative mutualism between ants and wild cotton (Gossypium thurberi). Ants consume wild cotton extrafloral nectar and can protect plants from herbivores. We chose three sites that differed in interaction outcome, including a mutualism (ants provided the greatest benefits to plant fitness and responded to manipulations of extrafloral nectar), a potential commensalism (ants increased plant fitness but were unresponsive to extrafloral nectar), and a neutral interaction (ants neither affected plant fitness nor responded to extrafloral nectar). At all sites, we manipulated ants and extrafloral nectar in a factorial design and monitored the abundance, diversity, and composition of other arthropods occurring on wild cotton plants. We predicted that the effects of ants and extrafloral nectar on arthropods would be largest in the location with the mutualism and weakest where the interaction was neutral. A non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis revealed that the presence of ants altered arthropod composition, but only at the two sites in which ants increased plant fitness. At the site with the mutualism, ants also suppressed detritivore/scavenger abundance and increased aphids. The presence of extrafloral nectar increased arthropod abundance where mutual benefits were the strongest, whereas both arthropod abundance and morphospecies richness declined with extrafloral nectar availability at the site with the weakest ant–plant interaction. Some responses were geographically invariable: total arthropod richness and evenness declined by approximately 20% on plants with ants, and extrafloral nectar reduced carnivore abundance when ants were excluded from plants. These results demonstrate that a facultative ant–plant mutualism can alter the composition of arthropod assemblages on plants and that these community-level consequences vary across the landscape.     

Covariation and composition of arthropod species across plant genotypes of evening primrose, Oenothera biennis

Genetic variation in plants has broad implications for both the ecology and evolution of species interactions. We addressed how a diverse community of arthropod species covary in abundance among plant genotypes of a native herbaceous plant ( Oenothera biennis ), and if these effects scale-up to shape the composition, diversity, and total abundance of arthropods over the entire lifetime of plants (two years). In a field experiment, we replicated 14 plant genotypes of O. biennis across five field habitats and studied the arthropod communities that naturally colonized plants. Genetic variation in O. biennis affected the abundance of 45% of the eleven common species in 2002, and 75% of sixteen common species in 2003. We examined the strength of correlations in mean abundance of arthropod species among plant genotypes and found that species responded independently to variation among genotypes in the first year of the study, whereas species formed positively covarying clusters of taxa in the second year (r_mean=0.35). The strength of these correlations did not consistently correspond to either taxonomy or functional attributes of the different species. The effects of plant genetic variation on the abundance and covariation of multiple arthropod species was associated with cascading effects on higher levels of community organization, as plant genotype and habitat interacted to affect the species composition, diversity, and total abundance of arthropods in both 2002 and 2003, though the specific effects varied across years. Our results suggest that plants may employ generalized resistance strategies effective against multiple herbivores, but such strategies are unlikely to be effective against entire functional groups of species. Moreover, we show that genotypic variation in plants is an important ecological factor that affects multiple levels of community organization, but the effects of plant genotype vary in both space and time.     

An experimental test of the effect of plant functional group diversity on arthropod diversity

Characteristics used to categorize plant species into functional groups for their effects on ecosystem functioning may also be relevant to higher trophic levels. In addition, plant and consumer diversity should be positively related because more diverse plant communities offer a greater variety of resources for the consumers. Thus, the functional group composition and richness of a plant community may affect the composition and diversity of the herbivores and even higher trophic levels associated with that community. We tested this hypothesis by sampling arthropods with a vacuum sampler (34 531 individuals of 494 species) from an experiment in which we manipulated plant functional group richness and composition. Plant manipulations included all combinations of three functional groups (forbs, C₃ graminoids, and C₄ graminoids) removed zero, one, or two at a time from grassland plots at Cedar Creek Natural History Area, MN. Although total arthropod species richness was unrelated to plant functional group richness or composition, the species richness of some arthropod orders was affected by plant functional group composition. Two plant characteristics explained most of the effects of plant functional groups on arthropod species richness. Nutritional quality, a characteristic related to ecosystem functioning, and taxonomic diversity, a characteristic not used to designate plant functional groups, seemed to affect arthropod species richness both directly and indirectly. Thus, plant functional groups designated for their effects on ecosystem processes will only be partially relevant to consumer diversity and abundance.