Novel trophic interactions under climate change promote alpine plant coexistence

Herbivory and plant defenses exhibit a coupled decline along elevation gradients. However, the current ecological equilibrium could be disrupted under climate change, with a faster upward range shift of animals than plants. Here, we experimentally simulated this upward herbivore range shift by trans...

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Published inScience (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 370; no. 6523; pp. 1469 - 1473
Main Authors Descombes, Patrice, Pitteloud, Camille, Glauser, Gaëtan, Defossez, Emmanuel, Kergunteuil, Alan, Allard, Pierre-Marie, Rasmann, Sergio, Pellissier, Loïc
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States The American Association for the Advancement of Science 18.12.2020
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Subjects
Animals
Biodiversity
Biodiversity and Ecology
Biomass
Climate
Climate Change
Climate effects
Coexistence
Ecological effects
Elevation
Encroachment
Environmental changes
Environmental Sciences
Flowers & plants
Functional morphology
Global warming
Grassland
Grasslands
Herbivores
Herbivory
Host plants
Inflating
Insects
Introduced Species
Mountains
Plant communities
Plants
Species richness
Temperature effects
Translocation
Trophic relationships
Vegetation
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Summary:Herbivory and plant defenses exhibit a coupled decline along elevation gradients. However, the current ecological equilibrium could be disrupted under climate change, with a faster upward range shift of animals than plants. Here, we experimentally simulated this upward herbivore range shift by translocating low-elevation herbivore insects to alpine grasslands. We report that the introduction of novel herbivores and increased herbivory disrupted the vertical functional organization of the plant canopy. By feeding preferentially on alpine plants with functional traits matching their low-elevation host plants, herbivores reduced the biomass of dominant alpine plant species and favored encroachment of herbivore-resistant small-stature plant species, inflating species richness. Supplementing a direct effect of temperature, novel biotic interactions represent a neglected but major driver of ecosystem modifications under climate change.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.abd7015