Description

This book discusses the nontrophic interactions that occur in ecosystems and their importance in understanding biological communities. Food webs examine the interactions between organisms to explain ecosystem community structure. This book argues how food webs alone cannot depict a true picture of a community. It shows that examining other indirect interactions between organisms can help us to better understand the structure and organisation of communities and ecosystems. Food webs examine the interactions between organisms to explain ecosystem community structure. This book argues how food webs alone cannot depict a true picture of a community. It shows that examining other indirect interactions between organisms can help us to better understand the structure and organisation of communities and ecosystems. To gain a more complete understanding of plant-based ecological community structure requires knowledge of the integration of direct and indirect effects in plant herbivore systems. Trait modification of plants as a result of herbivory is very common and widespread in terrestrial plants, and this initiates indirect interactions between organisms that utilise the same host plant. This book argues that food webs by themselves are inadequate models for understanding ecological communities, because they ignore important indirect, nontrophic links. This subject is of great importance in understanding not only community organisation but also in identifying the underlying mechanisms of maintenance of biodiversity in nature. This book will be an invaluable resource for researchers and graduate students interested in community and population ecology, evolutionary biology, biodiversity, botany and entomology. Preface; Part I. Introduction: 1. Indirect interaction webs: an introduction Takayuki Ohgushi, Timothy P. Craig and Peter W. Price; Part II. Interaction Linkages Produced by Plant-mediated Indirect Effects: 2. Plant-mediated interactions in herbivorous insects: mechanisms, symmetry, and challenging the paradigms of competition past Robert F. Denno and Ian Kaplan; 3. Going with the flow: plant vascular systems mediate indirect interactions between plants, insect herbivores and hemi-parasitic plants Susan E. Hartley, Kathy A. Bass and Scott N. Johnson; 4. Plant-mediated effects linking herbivory and pollination Judith L. Bronstein, Travis E. Huxman and Goggy Davidowitz; 5. Trait-mediated indirect interactions, density-mediated indirect interactions and direct interactions between mammalian and insect herbivores Jóse M. Gómez and Adela Gonzáles-Megías; 6. Insect-mycorrhizal interactions: patterns, processes and consequences Alan C. Gange; Part III. Plant-mediated Indirect Effects in Multitrophic Systems: 7. Plant-mediated interactions between below- and aboveground processes: decomposition, herbivory, parasitism and pollination Katja Poveda, Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter, Stefan Scheu and Teja Tscharntke; 8. Bottom-up cascades induced by fungal endophytes in multitrophic systems Enrique J. Chaneton and Marina Omacini; 9. Ecology meets plant physiology: herbivore-induced plant responses and their indirect effects on arthropod communities Maurice W. Sabelis, Junji Takabayashi, Arne Janssen, Merijn Kant, Michiel van Wijk, Beata Sznajder, Nayanie Aratchige, Izabela Lesna, Belen Belliure and Robert C. Schuurink; Part IV. Plant-mediated Indirect Effects on Communities and Biodiversity: 10. Nontrophic, indirect interaction webs of herbivorous insects Taka