Insects are a dominant component of biodiversity in terrestrial ecosystems and play a key role in mediating the relationship between plants and ecosystem processes. This volume examines their effects on ecosystem functioning, focusing mainly, but not exclusively, on herbivorous insects. Renowned authors with extensive experience in the field of plant-insect interactions, contribute to the volume using examples from their own work.
Inhalt
1 The various effects of insects on ecosystem functioning
Wolfgang Weisser and Evan Siemann
2 Insect herbivores, nutrient cycling and plant productivity
Susan Hartley and Hefin Jones
3 Indirect effects of invertebrate herbivory on the decomposer subsystem
David Wardle and Richard Bardgett
4 Biotic interactions in the rhizosphere: effects on plant growth
and herbivore development
Michael Bonkowski and Stefan Scheu
5 Below-ground herbivores and ecosystem processes
Gregory J. Masters
6 Bottom-up effects and feed-backs in simple and diverse experimental grassland communities
Jasmin Joshi, Stuart J. Otway, Julia Koricheva, Andrea B. Pfisterer, Jörn Alphei, B. A. Roy, Michael Scherer-Lorenzen, Bernhard Schmid, Eva Spehn and Andrew Hector
7 The potential of phytophagous insects in restoring invaded ecosystems: examples from biological weed control
Helmut Zwölfer and Helmuth Zimmerman
8 Plant-insect-pathogen interactions on local and regional scales
Andreas Kruess, Sabine Eber, Stephanie Kluth and Teja Tscharntke
9 Food web interactions and ecosystem processes
Arne Janssen and Maurice W. Sabelis
10 The role of outbreaking insects in plant community dynamics
Walter Carson, J. Patrick Cronin and Zachary T. Long
11 The ecology driving nutrient fluxes in forests
Bernhard Stadler, Eva Mühlenberg and Beate Michalzik
12 Simulating herbivory: problems and possibilities
Joakim Hjältén
13 The use and usefulness of artificial herbivory in plant-herbivore studies
Kari Lehtilä and Elin Boalt
14 From mesocosms to the field: the role and value of cage experiments in understanding top-down effects in ecosystems
Oswald J. Schmitz
15 Reducing herbivory using insecticides
Evan Siemann, Walt P Carson, William E. Rogers and Wolfgang W. Weisser
16 The role of herbivores in alien plant invasions: insights using a combination of methods to enhance or reduce herbivory
William Rogers and Evan Siemann
17 Herbivore-specific transcriptional responses and their research potential for ecosystem studies
Claudia Voelckel and Ian T. Baldwin
18 Testing the role of insects for ecosystem functioning
Evan Siemann and Wolfgang Weisser