Warming affects different components of plantherbivore interaction in a simplified community but not net interaction strength

Global warming impacts natural communities through eff ects on performance of individual species and through changes in the strength of interactions between them. While there is a body of evidence of the former, we lack experimental evidence on potential changes in interaction strengths. Knowledge about multispecies interactions is fundamental to understand the regulation of biodiversity and the impact of climate change on communities. Th is study investigated the eff ect of warming on a simplifi ed community consisting of three species: rosy apple aphid Dysaphis plantaginea feeding on plantain, Plantago lanceolata , and a heterospecifi c neighbouring plant species, perennial ryegrass, Lolium perenne. Th e aphid does not feed on L. perenne. Th e experimental design consisted of monocultures and mixtures of L. perenne and P. lanceolata at three temperature levels. We did not fi nd indication for indirect temperature eff ects on D. plantaginea through changes in leaf nitrogen or relative water content. However, experimental warming aff ected the life history traits of the aphid directly, in a non-linear manner. Aphids performed best at moderate warming, where they grew faster and had a shorter generation time. In spite of the increased population growth of the aphids under warming, the herbivory rates were not changed and consequently the plant-herbivore interaction was not altered under warming. Th is suggests reduced consumption rates at higher temperature. Also plant competition aff ected the aphids but through an interaction with temperature. We provide proof-of-concept that net interactions between plants and herbivores should not change under warming despite direct eff ects of warming on herbivores when plant-plant interaction are considered. Our study stresses the importance of indirect non - trophic interactions as an additional layer of complexity to improve our understanding of how trophic interactions will alter under climate change.

Jaar van publicatie:2017

Trefwoorden:A1 Journal article

BOF-keylabel:ja

BOF-publication weight:2

CSS-citation score:1

Authors from:Higher Education

Toegankelijkheid:Open