The effect of multiple natural enemies on a shared herbivore prey

Abstract Natural enemy diversity is thought to be important for effective suppression of herbivores in production systems. Studies investigating the importance of the diversity and composition of the natural enemy complex often use within‐year empirical studies or experimental exclusion setups. Howe...

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Main Author: Maartje J. Klapwijk
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2019-08-01
Series:Ecology and Evolution
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5451
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author Maartje J. Klapwijk
author_facet Maartje J. Klapwijk
author_sort Maartje J. Klapwijk
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Natural enemy diversity is thought to be important for effective suppression of herbivores in production systems. Studies investigating the importance of the diversity and composition of the natural enemy complex often use within‐year empirical studies or experimental exclusion setups. However, within‐year population suppression might not translate in long‐term population regulation. Therefore, I used a combination of long‐term data collection and an exclusion experiment to investigate mechanisms behind year‐to‐year population changes and potential effects of disturbance of the natural enemy complex. Using the holly leaf miner study system in Wytham Woods, I find that the dominant predator in the system does not necessarily contribute the most to the reduction in year‐to‐year changes in mine density or within‐patch fluctuations. Using the exclusion experiment, it becomes clear that parasitism later in the prey life cycle can to a certain level compensate for disruption of mortality in the earlier life stage of the prey. Thus, for host suppression in perennial systems the mortality pressure over the whole life cycle is important and disturbance during one part of the life cycle might not necessarily be buffered by mortality in other parts of the life cycle, especially if the natural enemy complex consists of multiple predator guilds.
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spelling doaj.art-d038f2ba7ff64ebd818bfa3957a82f2f2025-02-21T05:23:29ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582019-08-019169052906010.1002/ece3.5451The effect of multiple natural enemies on a shared herbivore preyMaartje J. Klapwijk0Department of Ecology Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Uppsala SwedenAbstract Natural enemy diversity is thought to be important for effective suppression of herbivores in production systems. Studies investigating the importance of the diversity and composition of the natural enemy complex often use within‐year empirical studies or experimental exclusion setups. However, within‐year population suppression might not translate in long‐term population regulation. Therefore, I used a combination of long‐term data collection and an exclusion experiment to investigate mechanisms behind year‐to‐year population changes and potential effects of disturbance of the natural enemy complex. Using the holly leaf miner study system in Wytham Woods, I find that the dominant predator in the system does not necessarily contribute the most to the reduction in year‐to‐year changes in mine density or within‐patch fluctuations. Using the exclusion experiment, it becomes clear that parasitism later in the prey life cycle can to a certain level compensate for disruption of mortality in the earlier life stage of the prey. Thus, for host suppression in perennial systems the mortality pressure over the whole life cycle is important and disturbance during one part of the life cycle might not necessarily be buffered by mortality in other parts of the life cycle, especially if the natural enemy complex consists of multiple predator guilds.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5451co‐existencecomplementaritymetapopulationpopulation dynamicspredator‐preyredundancy
spellingShingle Maartje J. Klapwijk
The effect of multiple natural enemies on a shared herbivore prey
Ecology and Evolution
co‐existence
complementarity
metapopulation
population dynamics
predator‐prey
redundancy
title The effect of multiple natural enemies on a shared herbivore prey
title_full The effect of multiple natural enemies on a shared herbivore prey
title_fullStr The effect of multiple natural enemies on a shared herbivore prey
title_full_unstemmed The effect of multiple natural enemies on a shared herbivore prey
title_short The effect of multiple natural enemies on a shared herbivore prey
title_sort effect of multiple natural enemies on a shared herbivore prey
topic co‐existence
complementarity
metapopulation
population dynamics
predator‐prey
redundancy
url https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5451
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