BEF-China
Aboveground multi-trophic plant-insect interactions
in a Chinese subtropical forest
Plant biodiversity, phylogeny and site productivity shape the complexity of multi-trophic interactions, which in turn, can influence plant performance and community structure. Most research on biodiversity-ecosystem functioning has so far been conducted in grasslands, neglecting forest ecosystems that harbor the majority of the planets species diversity. To understand the role of tree diversity, composition, and tree species extinction for ecosystem processes analyses of multi-trophic interactions are crucial. We focus on the multi-trophic interaction structure of two food web systems: cavity-nesting Hymenoptera (bees and wasps) and their natural enemies (system 1), as well as trophobioses between plants, sap-sucking aphids, and honey-dew collecting ants (system 2). Analyses of network structure of both systems in relation to tree diversity will help to reveal possible effects of plant diversity on higher trophic levels. Moreover using system 2 (plants, aphids and ants) we will link phylogenetic information of all three trophic levels to their network structure to test if the observed networks are shaped by evolutionary conserved relationships.. This sub-project of the BEF-China provides year-round data on trophic cascades and food web structure. Such data are critical to study the role of top-down versus bottom-up effects for a better understanding of how plant diversity might stabilize forest ecosystems. | ||||||
Publications
- Tang, T., Zhang, N., Bongers, F., Staab, M., Schuldt, A., Fornoff, F., Lin, H.; Cavender-Bares, J., Hipp, A., Li, S., Liang, Y., Han, B., Klein, A.M., Bruelheide, H., Durka, W., Schmid, B., Ma, K. & Liu, X. (2022): Tree species and genetic diversity increase productivity via functional diversity and trophic feedbacks. eLife, (accepted).
- Fornoff, F., Staab, M., Zhu, C.D. & Klein, A.M. (2021): Multi-trophic communities re-establish with canopy cover and microclimate in a subtropical forest biodiversity experiment. Oecologia 196: 289-301. Link
- Guo, P.F., Wand, M.Q., Orr, M., Li, Y., Chen, J.T., Zhou, Q.S., Staab, M., Fornoff, F., Chen, G.H., Zhang, N.L., Klein, A.M., Zhu, C.D. (2021): Tree diversity promotes predatory wasps and parasitoids but not pollinator bees in a subtropical experimental forest. Basic and Applied Ecology 53: 134-142. Link
- Schuldt, A., Ebeling, A., Kunz, M., Staab, M., Guimarães-Steinicke, C., Bachmann, D., Buchmann, N., Durka, W., Fichtner, A., Fornoff, F., Härdtle, W., Hertzog, L., Klein, A.M., Roscher, C., Schaller, J., von Oheimb, G., Weigelt, A., Weisser, W., Wirth, C., Zhang, J., Bruelheide, H. & Eisenhauer, N. (2019): Multiple plant diversity components drive consumer communities across ecosystems. Nature Communications 10: 1460. Link
- Fornoff, F., Klein, A.M., Blüthgen, N. & Staab, M. (2019): Tree diversity increases robustness of multi-trophic interactions. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 286: 20182399. Link
- Cao, H., Klein, A.M., Zhu, C.-D., Staab, M., Durka, W., Fischer, M. & Fornoff, F. (2018): Intra- and interspecific tree diversity promotes multitrophic plant–Hemiptera–ant interactions in a forest diversity experiment.Basic and Applied Ecology 29: 89-97. Link
- Grossman, J.J., Vanhellemont, M., Barsoum, N., Bauhus, J., Bruelheide, H., Castagneyrol, B., Cavender-Bares, J., Eisenhauer, N., Ferlian, O., Gravel, D., Hector, A., Jactel, H., Kreft, H., Mereu, S., Messier, C., Muys, B., Nock, C., Paquette, A., Parker, J., Perring, M.P., Ponette, Q., Reich, P.B., Schuldt, A., Staab, M., Weih, M., Zemp, D.C., Scherer-Lorenzen, M. & Verheyen, K. (2018): Synthesis and future research directions linking tree diversity to growth, survival, and damage in a global network of tree diversity experiments. Environmental and Experimental Botany 152: 68-89. Link
- Schuldt, A., Fornoff, F., Bruelheide, H., Klein, A.M. & Staab, M. (2017): Tree species richness attenuates the positive relationship between mutualistic ant-hemipteran interactions and leaf chewer herbivory. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 284: 20171489. Link
- Staab, M., Fornoff, F., Klein, A.M. & Blüthgen, N. (2017): Ants at plant wounds - A little-known trophic interaction with evolutionary implications for ant-plant interactions. American Naturalist 190: 442-450. Link
- Trogisch, S., [...], Klein, A.M., [...], Staab, M., et al. & Bruelheide H. (2017): Towards a methodical framework for comprehensively assessing forest multifunctionality. Ecology and Evolution 7: 10652-10674. Link
- Schuldt, A., Bruelheide, H., Assmann, T., Buscot, F., Erfmeier, A., Klein, A.M., Ma, K., Scholten, T., Staab, M., Wirth, C., Zhang, J. & Wubet, T. (2017): Belowground top-down and aboveground bottom-up effects structure multitrophic communities in a biodiverse forest. Scientific Reports 7: 4222. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-04619-3. Link
- Staab, M., Methorst, J., Peters, J., Blüthgen, N. & Klein, A.M. (2017): Tree diversity and nectar composition affect arthropod visitors on extrafloral nectaries in a diversity experiment. Journal of Plant Ecology 10: 201-212 . Link
- Staab, M., Bruelheide, H., Durka, W., Michalski, S., Purschke, O., Zhu C.D. & Klein, A.M. (2016): Tree phylogenetic diversity promotes host-parasitoid interactions. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 283: 20160275. Link
- Schuldt, A., Wubet, T., Buscot, F., Staab, M., Assmann, T., Böhnke-Kammerlander, M., Both, S., Erfmeier, A., Klein, A.M., Ma, K., Pietsch, K., Schultze, S., Wirth, C., Zhang, J., Zumstein, P. & Bruelheide, H. (2015): Multitrophic diversity in a biodiverse forest is highly nonlinear across spatial scales. Nature Communications 6: 10169. Link
- Staab, M. (2015): Aenictus hoelldobleri sp. n., a new species of the Aenictus ceylonicus group (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from China, with a key to the Chinese members of the group. ZooKeys 516: 137-155. Link
- Staab, M., Ohl, M., Zhu, C.D. & Klein, A.M. (2015): Observational natural history and morphological taxonomy are indispensable for future challenges in biodiversity and conservation. Communicative and Integrative Biology 8: e992745. doi:10.4161/19420889.2014.992745 Link
- Schuldt, A. & Staab, M. (2015): Tree species richness strengthens relationships between ants and the functional composition of spider assemblages in a highly diverse forest. Biotropica 47: 339-346. Link
- Staab, M., Blüthgen, N. & Klein, A.M. (2015): Tree diversity alters the structure of a tri-trophic network in a biodiversity experiment. Oikos 124: 827-834. Link
- Staab, M., Schuldt, A., Assmann, T., Bruelheide, H. & Klein, A.M. (2014): Ant community structure during forest succession in a subtropical forest in South-East China. Acta Oecologica 61: 32-40. Link
- Staab, M., Schuldt, A., Assmann, T. & Klein, A.M. (2014): Tree diversity promotes predator but not omnivore ants in a subtropical Chinese forest. Ecological Entomology 39: 637-647. Link
- Floren, A., Wetzel, W. & Staab, M. (2014): The contribution of canopy species to overall ant diversity (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in temperate and tropical ecosystems. Myrmecological News 19: 65-74. Link
- Staab, M. (2014): The first observation of honeydew foraging in army ants since 1933: Aenictus hodgsoni Forel, 1901 tending Eutrichosiphum heterotrichum (Raychaudhuri, 1956) in Southeast China. Asian Myrmecology 6: 115-118. Link
- Staab, M. (2014): A new species of the Aenictus wroughtonii group (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from South-East China. ZooKeys 391: 65-73. Link