Affiliation:
1. State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro‐ecosystems & College of Ecology Lanzhou University Gansu Lanzhou P. R. China
2. Co‐Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China Nanjing Forestry University Jiangsu Nanjing P. R. China
3. Bamboo Research Institute Nanjing Forestry University Jiangsu Nanjing P. R. China
Abstract
AbstractAimAttempts over the past 30 years to explain geographical variation in the strength of herbivore pressure have given rise to ecological hypotheses like the latitudinal herbivory hypothesis. This hypothesis, however, has rarely been tested using community‐level data. Therefore, the aim of our study was to examine the patterns and potential mechanisms underlying geographical variation in community‐wide herbivory.LocationThe Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau.Time PeriodJuly 2021.Major Taxa StudiedPlants.MethodsWe selected 43 grassland sites along a 1500‐km latitudinal gradient (c. 27°N to 39°N) and a 2698‐m elevational gradient (1886–4584 m) on the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau. We evaluated geographical patterns in invertebrate herbivory pressure at the population and community levels, while also evaluating the importance of geographical variation in mediating the effects of abiotic and biotic factors on intraspecific variation (through changes in herbivory on component species) and species turnover effects (through changes in plant community composition).ResultsCommunity‐wide herbivory decreased with latitude, mirroring intraspecific variation, while species turnover effects did not vary along any tested geographical gradients. Furthermore, we found that geographical variation in community‐wide herbivory was strongly positively correlated with soil nitrogen content. We also found a positive effect of soil nitrogen content on intraspecific variation and a negative effect of plant community biomass on species turnover effects.Main ConclusionsThe latitudinal gradient in community‐wide herbivory was primarily mediated by intraspecific variation, which was in turn associated with a gradient in soil nitrogen content. Our findings highlight the need for community‐wide assessments of geographical variation in plant–herbivore interactions, decomposing community‐wide herbivory into intraspecific variation and species turnover effects.
Funder
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Subject
Ecology,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics,Global and Planetary Change
Cited by
1 articles.
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