Does insect herbivory suppress ecosystem productivity? Evidence from a temperate woodland

Abstract

Our current understanding of the relationship between insect herbivory and ecosystem productivity is limited. Previous studies have typically quantified only leaf area loss, or have been conducted during outbreak years. These set-ups often ignore the physiological changes taking place in the remaining plant tissue after insect attack, or may not represent typical, non-outbreak herbivore densities. Here, we estimate the amount of carbon lost to insect herbivory in a temperate deciduous woodland both through leaf area loss and, notably, through changes in leaf gas exchange in non-consumed leaves under non-outbreak densities of insects. We calculate how net primary productivity changes with decreasing and increasing levels of herbivory, and estimate what proportion of the carbon involved in the leaf area loss is transferred further in the food web. We estimate that the net primary productivity of an oak stand under ambient levels of herbivory is 54 - 69% lower than that of a completely intact stand. The effect of herbivory quantified only as leaf area loss (0.1 Mg C ha−1 yr−1) is considerably smaller than when the effects of herbivory on leaf physiology are included (8.5 Mg C ha−1 yr−1). We propose that the effect of herbivory on primary productivity is non-linear and mainly determined by changes in leaf gas exchange. We call for replicated studies in other systems to validate the relationship between insect herbivory and ecosystem productivity described here.