Resolving Ecosystem Complexity

193 Pages·2010·1.214 MB·English

by  Oswald J. Schmitz

Resolving Ecosystem Complexity
MONOGRAPHS IN POPULATION BIOLOGY
EDITED BY SIMON A. LEVIN AND HENRY S. HORN
A complete series list follows the index
Resolving Ecosystem Complexity
Oswald J. Schmitz
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
Princeton and Oxford
Copyright © 2010 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street,
Princeton, New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press,
6 Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1TW
press.princeton.edu
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Schmitz, Oswald J.
Resolving ecosystem complexity / Oswald J. Schmitz.
p. cm. —(Monographs in population biology ; 47)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-691-12848-1 (hardcover : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-0-691-12849-8 (pbk. : alk.
paper) 1. Biotic communities. 2. Ecosystem management. 3. Biodiversity conservation.
I. Title.
QH541S326 2010
577.8(cid:2)2—dc22 2009050861
British Library Cataloging- in- Publication Data is available
This book has been composed in Times Roman
Printed on acid- free paper. (cid:3)
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
List of Illustrations ix
List of Tables xiii
Preface xv
1. Introduction 1
Philosophical Musings 2
Explaining Contingency: A Worldview 4
Contingency and Emergence 5
Preparing the Mind for Discovery 7
Structure of the Book 8
2. Conceptualizing Ecosystem Structure 10
Abstracting Complexity 11
Whole System vs. Building Blocks Approach 13
Defi ning Species Interaction Modules 15
Identifying Interaction Modules in a Grassland Ecosystem 16
Conception of Ecosystem Structure 20
3. Trophic Dynamics: Why Is the World Green? 23
Trophic Control as an Emergent Property of Resource
Limitation 24
Explaining Contingency in Trophic Control of Ecosystem
Function 26
The Nature of Resource Limitation and Trophic Control of
Food Chains 28
The Mechanism Switching Hypothesis of Trophic Control 32
Effects of Herbivore Feeding Mode 36
Collective Effects of Herbivore Species with Different
Feeding Modes 38
Plant- Antiherbivore Defense and Strength of Trophic Control 39
Herbivore Resource Selection and Ecosystem Function 41
Stoichiometry and Herbivore Resource Use 42
vi CONTENTS
Resource Selection and Ecosystem Function 43
Herbivore Indirect Effects and Engineering of Green Worlds 46
Herbivore- Mediated Carnivore Indirect Effects on Ecosystems 47
Carnivore Indirect Effects on Plant Diversity 47
Carnivore Indirect Effects on Ecosystem Function 50
4. The Green World and the Brown Chain 55
Conceptualizing Functions along Detritus- Based Chains 56
Resource Limitation and Trophic Control 57
Trophic Control of Decomposition 59
Trophic Control of Mineralization 61
Mechanisms of Top- Down Control 62
Trophic Coupling between Detritus- Based and
Plant- Based Chains 64
5. The Evolutionary Ecology of Trophic Control in Ecosystems 68
Carnivore Species and the Nature of Trophic Interactions
in an Old- Field System 69
Carnivore Hunting Mode and the Nature of Trophic Interactions 74
The Evolutionary Ecology of Trophic Cascades 86
6. The Whole and the Parts 99
Developing Predictive Theory for Emergence 100
Contingency and Carnivore Diversity Effects on Ecosystems 101
Carnivore Diversity and Emergent Effects on Ecosystem
Function 106
Shifting Down One Trophic Level: Intermediate Species
Diversity and Ecosystem Function 110
Herbivore Diversity and Mediation of Top- Down Control
of Ecosystem Function 112
Detritivore Diversity and Mediation of Top- Down Control
of Ecosystem Function 117
The Basal Trophic Level: Plant Diversity and Ecosystem Function 118
Functional Classifi cations 119
Resource Identity Effects on Trophic Interactions 121
Moving Forward on Functional Diversity and Ecosystem Function 122
7. The Ecological Theater and the Evolutionary Ecological Play 125
Phenotypic Variation and State- Dependent Trade- Offs 127
Attacked Plants Attract Predators 129
CONTENTS vii
Predators That Avoid Predation 130
The Nonconsumptive Basis of Trophic Transfer Effi ciencies 132
Trophic Interactions in a Changing Theater 133
Rapid Change in Hunting Strategy 135
Landscapes of Fear and Ecosystem Management 135
Closing Remarks 139
References 143
Index 167
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List of Illustrations
Figure 1.1. Hypothetical case in which the relationship between a 3
treatment and response variable is deduced by identifying
an average trend among data compiled from numerous, local
experiments.
Figure 2.1. Generic conceptualization of ecosystem structure depicting 12
the live plant- based food chain and the detritus- based food
chain that are common aboveground components of all
ecosystems.
Figure 2.2. Hypothetical food web comprised of species of carnivores, 17
herbivores, and plants illustrating the idea that envisioning
the whole system as a collection of food chain subsystems
might reduce complexity.
Figure 2.3. Results from fi eld experiments examining the interplay 18
among carnivore, focal herbivore species and plants to
illustrate how quantifying interaction strengths of carni-
vores on herbivores and carnivores on plants can lead to
identifi cation of a dominant interaction web that is amenable
to experimental analysis of ecosystem functioning in the fi eld
Figure 3.1. Extending classic HSS theory to explain ecosystem 25
function. Carnivore indirect effects on plant community
composition and on ecosystem functions determined by the
direct causal chain running from predators, through herbi-
vores, through plant community composition.
Figure 3.2. Qualitative predictions generated from mechanistic 31
theory of food chain interactions in which herbivores
face relative and absolute resource limitation.
Figure 3.3. Results of an experiment that manipulated abiotic con- 33
ditions and trophic structure to reveal the nature of trophic
control of a grassland ecosystem comprised of herbaceous
vegetation, a generalist grasshopper herbivore, and a wolf
spider carnivore.