Tropical tree diversity mediates foraging and predatory effects of insectivorous birds.

ABSTRACT: 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 artifi

SUBMITTER: Nell CS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6235032 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature