Herbivores alleviate the negative effects of extreme drought on plant community by enhancing dominant species

doi:10.1093/jpe/rtab066

J Plant Ecol ›› 2021, Vol. 14 ›› Issue (6): 1030-1036 .DOI: 10.1093/jpe/rtab066

• Short Communication • Previous Articles Next Articles

Herbivores alleviate the negative effects of extreme drought on plant community by enhancing dominant species

Chong Xu^1,2, Yuguang Ke², Honghui Wu³, Melinda D. Smith⁴, Nathan P. Lemoine⁵, Weiguo Zhang^1,* and Qiang Yu^2,*

¹ State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730020, China, ² National Hulunber Grassland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China, ³ Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Crop Nutrition and Fertilization, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China, ⁴Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA, ⁵ Department of Biological Sciences, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI 53233, USA

^*Corresponding author. E-mail: wgzhang@lzu.edu.cn (W.Z.); yuqiang@caas.cn (Q.Y.)

Received:2020-12-24 Revised:2021-02-26 Accepted:2021-06-01 Online:2021-06-17 Published:2021-12-01

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims

Both extreme drought and insect herbivores can suppress plant growth in grassland communities. However, most studies have examined extreme drought and insects in isolation, and there is reason to believe that insects might alter the ability of grasslands to withstand drought. Unfortunately, few studies have tested the interactive effects of extreme drought and insect herbivores in grassland communities.

Methods

Here, we tested the drought–herbivore interactions using a manipulative experiment that factorially crossed extreme drought with the exclusion of insect herbivores in a temperate semiarid grassland in Inner Mongolia.

Important Findings

Our results demonstrated that both extreme drought and insect herbivores separately decreased total plant cover. When combined, insect herbivores reduced the impact of drought on total cover by increasing the relative abundance of drought-resistant dominant species. Our results highlight that the negative effect of extreme drought on total plant cover could be alleviated by maintaining robust insect herbivore communities.

Key words: extreme drought, insect herbivores, pant community cover, semiarid grassland, dominant species

摘要：
食草昆虫通过增加植物群落中优势物种的占比来缓解极端干旱对整个植物群落的负面影响
极端干旱和食草昆虫均会抑制草原生态系统中植物的生长。食草昆虫也可能会调控植物群落对极端干旱的响应。但是关于二者交互作用对植物群落的影响鲜有报道。通过在内蒙古半干旱草原设置的极端干旱与食草昆虫交互控制实验，本研究探究了二者交互作用对植物群落的影响。研究结果表明，干旱和食草昆虫的单独作用均降低了植物群落的总盖度。但在二者交互作用下，食草昆虫通过增加植物群落中耐旱优势物种的相对盖度降低了干旱对总盖度的负面影响。我们的结果证明了食草昆虫可以缓解极端干旱对植物群落的负面影响。

关键词: 极端干旱, 食草昆虫, 植物群落盖度, 半干旱草原, 优势物种

Chong Xu, Yuguang Ke, Honghui Wu, Melinda D. Smith, Nathan P. Lemoine, Weiguo Zhang and Qiang Yu. Herbivores alleviate the negative effects of extreme drought on plant community by enhancing dominant species[J]. J Plant Ecol, 2021, 14(6): 1030-1036.

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Herbivores alleviate the negative effects of extreme drought on plant community by enhancing dominant species

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