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Fear begets function in the ‘brown’ world of detrital food webs
Author(s) -
Nichols Elizabeth
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of animal ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.134
H-Index - 157
eISSN - 1365-2656
pISSN - 0021-8790
DOI - 10.1111/1365-2656.12099
Subject(s) - predation , detritivore , trophic cascade , ecology , biology , trophic level , predator , food web , biomass (ecology) , wolf spider , earthworm , invertebrate
Species of predaceous beetle (top: Agonum impressum ) and large (middle: Pheretima aspergillum ) and small earthworms (bottom: Aporrectodeanocturna ) used to quantify the direct effects of predation on earthworm density and behavior, and indirect effects of predationon soil properties and above‐ground plant biomass.Zhao , C. , Griffin , J. , Wu , X. & Sun , S. ( 2013 ) Predatory beetles facilitate plant growth by driving earthworms to lower soil layers . Journal of Animal Ecology , 82 , 749 – 758 . Theory suggests that predators in detritus‐based food webs should negatively influence plants, through direct effects on plant‐facilitating detritivores. In a three‐level food web of predaceous beetles, earthworms and plants, Zhao et al . ([Zhao, C., 2013]) report evidence to the contrary. They found that predators drove positive indirect effects on both plant‐facilitating soil properties and above‐ground plant biomass and that these positive effects were driven by predator‐mediated vertical shifts in detritivore habitat use. Their study reinforces the importance of trait‐mediated indirect interactions across both ‘green’ and ‘brown’ trophic cascades and emphasizes that understanding the spatial dimension of trophic cascade mechanisms remains a critical research priority.