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Journal article 1185 views

Consumer-plant interaction strength: importance of body size, density and metabolic biomass

Rebecca L. Atkins, John Griffin Orcid Logo, Christine Angelini, Mary I. O'Connor, Brian R. Silliman

Oikos, Volume: 124, Issue: 10, Pages: 1274 - 1281

Swansea University Author: John Griffin Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1111/oik.01966

Abstract

Explaining variability in the strength and sign of trophic interactions between primary consumers and plants is a long-standing research challenge. Consumer density and body size vary widely in space and time and are predicted to have interactive effects on consumer–plant interactions. In a southern...

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Published in: Oikos
Published: 2015
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa23628
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first_indexed 2015-10-09T02:08:14Z
last_indexed 2018-02-09T05:02:38Z
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spelling 2015-10-08T19:24:16.0177755 v2 23628 2015-10-08 Consumer-plant interaction strength: importance of body size, density and metabolic biomass 9814fbffa76dd9c9a207166354cd0b2f 0000-0003-3295-6480 John Griffin John Griffin true false 2015-10-08 SBI Explaining variability in the strength and sign of trophic interactions between primary consumers and plants is a long-standing research challenge. Consumer density and body size vary widely in space and time and are predicted to have interactive effects on consumer–plant interactions. In a southern US salt marsh, we used replicate field enclosures to orthogonally manipulate the body size (mass) and density of a dominant consumer (a snail). We investigated impacts (leaf damage and biomass) on monocultures of cordgrass, the foundation species, over three months. Increasing consumer density and body size increased leaf damage additively and, as predicted, multiplicatively reduced plant biomass. Notably, size and density determined the sign of consumer impact on plants: low to medium densities of small consumers enhanced, while high densities of large consumers strongly suppressed, plant biomass. Finally, total consumer metabolic biomass (mass0.75) within an enclosure parsimoniously explained plant biomass response, supporting theoretical predictions and suggesting that multiplicative effects of density and body size resulted from their effects on total metabolic biomass. The consequences of changes in consumer density and body size resulting from anthropogenic perturbations may therefore be predicted based on metabolic biomass. Journal Article Oikos 124 10 1274 1281 1 10 2015 2015-10-01 10.1111/oik.01966 COLLEGE NANME Biosciences COLLEGE CODE SBI Swansea University 2015-10-08T19:24:16.0177755 2015-10-08T19:24:16.0177755 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences Rebecca L. Atkins 1 John Griffin 0000-0003-3295-6480 2 Christine Angelini 3 Mary I. O'Connor 4 Brian R. Silliman 5
title Consumer-plant interaction strength: importance of body size, density and metabolic biomass
spellingShingle Consumer-plant interaction strength: importance of body size, density and metabolic biomass
John Griffin
title_short Consumer-plant interaction strength: importance of body size, density and metabolic biomass
title_full Consumer-plant interaction strength: importance of body size, density and metabolic biomass
title_fullStr Consumer-plant interaction strength: importance of body size, density and metabolic biomass
title_full_unstemmed Consumer-plant interaction strength: importance of body size, density and metabolic biomass
title_sort Consumer-plant interaction strength: importance of body size, density and metabolic biomass
author_id_str_mv 9814fbffa76dd9c9a207166354cd0b2f
author_id_fullname_str_mv 9814fbffa76dd9c9a207166354cd0b2f_***_John Griffin
author John Griffin
author2 Rebecca L. Atkins
John Griffin
Christine Angelini
Mary I. O'Connor
Brian R. Silliman
format Journal article
container_title Oikos
container_volume 124
container_issue 10
container_start_page 1274
publishDate 2015
institution Swansea University
doi_str_mv 10.1111/oik.01966
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences
document_store_str 0
active_str 0
description Explaining variability in the strength and sign of trophic interactions between primary consumers and plants is a long-standing research challenge. Consumer density and body size vary widely in space and time and are predicted to have interactive effects on consumer–plant interactions. In a southern US salt marsh, we used replicate field enclosures to orthogonally manipulate the body size (mass) and density of a dominant consumer (a snail). We investigated impacts (leaf damage and biomass) on monocultures of cordgrass, the foundation species, over three months. Increasing consumer density and body size increased leaf damage additively and, as predicted, multiplicatively reduced plant biomass. Notably, size and density determined the sign of consumer impact on plants: low to medium densities of small consumers enhanced, while high densities of large consumers strongly suppressed, plant biomass. Finally, total consumer metabolic biomass (mass0.75) within an enclosure parsimoniously explained plant biomass response, supporting theoretical predictions and suggesting that multiplicative effects of density and body size resulted from their effects on total metabolic biomass. The consequences of changes in consumer density and body size resulting from anthropogenic perturbations may therefore be predicted based on metabolic biomass.
published_date 2015-10-01T03:27:54Z
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score 11.035634

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