| Predation, but not herbivory, declines with elevation in a tropical rainforest | |
| Barlow, B. E. L.; Nakamura, A.; Ashton, L. A. | |
| 2024 | |
| Source Publication | TROPICAL ECOLOGY
 |
| ISSN | 0564-3295 |
| Issue | _Pages:_ |
| Abstract | Naturally, insect herbivore populations are controlled by their plant hosts and predators. These 'bottom-up' and 'top-down' controls influence leaf area lost to herbivory. Bottom-up control of herbivory may be driven by leaf nutrients and plant defences. Top-down control can be driven by abundance and species richness of natural enemies, host or prey specificity, and predation strategies (e.g., active searching or sit-and-wait 'ambush' predation). The relative importance of bottom-up and top-down controls is unresolved but likely to vary spatially and temporally and under different environmental conditions such as changing temperature. We surveyed leaf carbon and nitrogen, leaf area loss, and attacks on plasticine caterpillars across a tropical elevational gradient in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Provence, China. We show that predatory foraging activity decreases with elevation and temperature, whereas leaf nutrients and leaf area loss from herbivory remains more or less constant. Predation patterns were driven by ants, which are thermophiles and therefore more active, abundant, and diverse at warmer, lower elevations. Leaf nutritional values are important in driving herbivory patterns as herbivory was stable across this gradient, but other factors such as mechanical defences and herbivore-induced plant volatiles demand further study. Elevational studies provide insight into how ecosystem function will shift under climate change. As increasing temperatures following climate change allows predatory groups like ants to exploit higher elevations, top-down control in high elevation habitats could increase, resulting in re-wiring of these ecologically sensitive communities. At the same time, top-down control at lower elevations may be at risk if critical thermal maxima for natural enemies are exceeded. |
| Keyword | Bottom-up Climate change Community ecology Food web Insect Sentinel prey Top-down Trophic interactions |
| Subject Area | Ecology |
| DOI | 10.1007/s42965-024-00346-9 |
| Indexed By | SCI |
| Language | 英语 |
| WOS ID | WOS:001234573100002 |
| Citation statistics | |
| Document Type | 期刊论文 |
| Identifier | https://ir.xtbg.ac.cn/handle/353005/14263 |
| Collection | 2012年后新成立研究组 |
| Affiliation | 1.[Barlow, B. E. L. 2.Ashton, L. A.] Univ Hong Kong, Sch Biol Sci, Div Ecol & Biodivers, Hong Kong, Peoples R China 3.[Nakamura, A.] Chinese Acad Sci, CAS Key Lab Trop Forest Ecol, Xishuangbanna Trop Bot Garden, Mengla, Yunnan, Peoples R China |
| Recommended Citation GB/T 7714 | Barlow, B. E. L.,Nakamura, A.,Ashton, L. A.. Predation, but not herbivory, declines with elevation in a tropical rainforest[J]. TROPICAL ECOLOGY,2024(_):_. |
| APA | Barlow, B. E. L.,Nakamura, A.,&Ashton, L. A..(2024).Predation, but not herbivory, declines with elevation in a tropical rainforest.TROPICAL ECOLOGY(_),_. |
| MLA | Barlow, B. E. L.,et al."Predation, but not herbivory, declines with elevation in a tropical rainforest".TROPICAL ECOLOGY ._(2024):_. |
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| Predation, but not h（1001KB） | 期刊论文 | 出版稿 | 开放获取 | CC BY-NC-SA | View Download | |
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