Global signal of top-down control of terrestrial plant communities by herbivores

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Shihong JiaMatthew Scott Luskin

Abstract

The theory of "top-down" ecological regulation predicts that herbivory suppresses plant abundance, biomass, and survival but increases diversity through the disproportionate consumption of dominant species, which inhibits competitive exclusion. To date, these outcomes have been clear in aquatic ecosystems but not on land. We explicate this discrepancy using a meta-analysis of experimental results from 123 native animal exclusions in natural terrestrial ecosystems (623 pairwise comparisons). Consistent with top-down predictions, we found that herbivores significantly reduced plant abundance, biomass, survival, and reproduction (all P < 0.01) and increased species evenness but not richness (P = 0.06 and P = 0.59, respectively). However, when examining patterns in the strength of top-down effects, with few exceptions, we were unable to detect significantly different effect sizes among biomes, based on local site characteristics (climate or productivity) or study characteristics (study duration or exclosure size). The positive effects on diversity were only significant in studies excluding large animals or located in temperate grasslands. The results demonstrate that top-down regulation by herbivores is a pervasive process shaping ...Continue Reading

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Citations

Nov 30, 2018·Ecology Letters·Alan KergunteuilSergio Rasmann
Oct 10, 2018·Nature Communications·Huan-Huan QiaoJian-Quan Ni
Oct 16, 2019·Nature Communications·Charlie J GardnerZoe G Davies
Mar 14, 2021·Nature Communications·Peter Jeffrey WilliamsMatthew Scott Luskin
Jul 22, 2021·Ecological Applications : a Publication of the Ecological Society of America·Georgia C TitcombHillary S Young
Nov 26, 2021·Science·Allison T KarpA Carla Staver
Oct 18, 2021·Ecological Applications : a Publication of the Ecological Society of America·Edward B RastetterNatalie T Boelman

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