Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 92697 Irvine, CA, USA
Departamento de Ecología Tropical, Campus de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, 97000 Mérida, Yucatan, Mexico.
Proc Biol Sci. 2018 Nov 7;285(1890):20181842. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2018.1842.
Biodiversity affects the structure of ecological communities, but little is known about the interactive effects of diversity across multiple trophic levels. We used a large-scale forest diversity experiment to investigate the effects of tropical tree species richness on insectivorous birds, and the subsequent indirect effect on predation rates by birds. Diverse plots (four tree species) had higher bird abundance (61%), phylogenetic diversity (61%), and functional diversity (55%) than predicted based on single-species monocultures, which corresponded to higher attack rates on artificial caterpillars (65%). Tree diversity effects on attack rate were driven by complementarity among tree species, with increases in attack rate observed on all tree species in polycultures. Attack rates on artificial caterpillars were higher in plots with higher bird abundance and diversity, but the indirect effect of tree species richness was mediated by bird diversity, providing evidence that diversity can interact across trophic levels with consequences tied to ecosystem services and function.
生物多样性影响生态群落的结构，但对于多个营养层次多样性的相互作用知之甚少。我们使用大规模的森林多样性实验来研究热带树种丰富度对食虫鸟类的影响，以及鸟类随后对捕食率的间接影响。与基于单一物种的单一种植相比，多样的种植区（四种树木）具有更高的鸟类丰富度（61%）、系统发育多样性（61%）和功能多样性（55%），这对应于对人工毛毛虫的更高攻击率（65%）。树木多样性对攻击率的影响是由物种之间的互补性驱动的，在多物种种植园中观察到所有树种的攻击率都有所增加。在鸟类丰富度和多样性较高的种植区，对人工毛毛虫的攻击率较高，但树种丰富度的间接影响是由鸟类多样性介导的，这为多样性可以在营养层次上相互作用并产生与生态系统服务和功能相关的后果提供了证据。
