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Risk of spider predation alters food web structure and reduces local herbivory in the field

  • Ecosystem ecology - Original research
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Abstract

Predators can indirectly enhance plant performance via herbivore suppression, with both prey consumption and changes in prey traits (e.g. changes in foraging behaviour) contributing to the reduction in herbivory. We performed a field experiment to determine the extent of such non-consumptive effects which consisted of repeatedly placing spiders (Pisaura mirabilis) on enclosed plants (Urtica dioica) for cue deposition. Control plants were enclosed in the same way but without spiders. After cue deposition, the enclosures were removed to allow arthropods to colonize the plants and feed on them. Arthropods were removed from the plants before the subsequent spider deposition or control enclosure. During six cycles of enclosure, we quantified leaf damage on the plants. After a seventh cycle, the colonizing arthropods were sampled to determine community composition in relation to the presence/absence of spider cues. We found that the presence of chemotactile spider cues reduced leaf damage by 50 %. In addition, spider cues led to changes in the arthropod community: smaller spiders avoided plants with spider cues. In contrast, the aphid-tending ant Myrmica rubra showed higher recruitment of workers on cue-bearing plants, possibly to protect aphids. Our results show that the risk of spider predation can reduce herbivory on wild plants and also demonstrate that non-consumptive effects can be particularly strong within the predator guild.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Laia Mestre for help in the field and Nina Kessler for technical assistance. We are grateful to the handling editor and two anonymous reviewers for comments on earlier versions of the manuscript. The study was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft under Grant Number EN 979/1-1 and ME3842/2-1 to Martin Entling and Florian Menzel. Our experiment complies with the current laws of Germany.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ecosystem Analysis, Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Koblenz-Landau, Fortstrasse 7, 76829, Landau, Germany

    Roman Bucher & Martin H. Entling

  2. Department of Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Zoology, University of Mainz, Johannes-von-Müller-Weg 6, 55128, Mainz, Germany

    Florian Menzel

Authors
  1. Roman Bucher
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  2. Florian Menzel
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  3. Martin H. Entling
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Correspondence to Roman Bucher.

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Communicated by Wolfgang Weisser.

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Bucher, R., Menzel, F. & Entling, M.H. Risk of spider predation alters food web structure and reduces local herbivory in the field. Oecologia 178, 571–577 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-015-3226-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-015-3226-5

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