Contrasting responses of plant and insect diversity to variation in grazing intensity

By A. Kruess, T. Tscharntke. 2002

397 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract The effects of grazing intensity on plant and insect diversity were examined in four different types of grassland (intensively and extensively cattle-grazed pastures, short-term and long-term ungrazed grassland; 24 study sites). Vegetation complexity (plant species richness, vegetation height, vegetation heterogeneity) was significantly higher on ungrazed grasslands compared to pastures but did not differ between intensively and extensively grazed pastures. However, insect species richness was higher on extensively than on intensively grazed pastures, established by suction sampling of four insect taxa (Auchenorrhyncha, Heteroptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera Parasitica). This may be due to intensive grazing disrupting plant–insect associations as predicted by a “trophic-level” hypothesis. Local persistence and small-scale recolonization of insects on plants appeared to be difficult in the highly disturbed environment of intensive grazing. Insect diversity increased across the four treatments in the following order: intensively grazed

Subfields: Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Global and Planetary Change, Nature and Landscape Conservation

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Citations in the corpus

Effects of grazing intensity on pollinator abundance and diversity, and on pollination services (2016, background): “As a consequence, pollinating insects are influenced by the extent, intensity, and type of grazing (Carvell, 2002; Kruess & Tscharntke, 2002a; Sjödin, 2007).”
Factors and processes affecting plant biodiversity in permanent grasslands. A review (2011, neutral): “3, upper and second photos; Fischer and Wipf 2002; Jacquemyn et al. 2003; Kruess and Tscharntke 2002), for example, mowing seems to favor forbs (Stammel et al. 2003).”
Ecological limits to plant phenotypic plasticity. (2007, background): “…by ungulate damage to some woody plants severely affects those insects dependent on complex structures, such as sap-suckers and caterpillars (Tscharntke & Greiler, 1995; Abensperg-Traun et al., 1996; Bestelmeyer & Wiens, 1996; Dennis et al., 1997; Tscharntke, 1997; Kruess & Tscharntke, 2002a,b).”
Different responses of plants and herbivore insects to a gradient of vegetation height: an indicator of the vertebrate grazing intensity and successional age (2006, neutral): “Kruess and Tscharntke (2002a) observed no”
Diversity and trait composition of moths respond to land-use intensification in grasslands: generalists replace specialists (2017, background): “Under moderate grazing pressure, high species richness of plants and arthropod herbivores can be maintained or even increased (Kruess and Tscharntke 2002).”
RESTORATION OF BUTTERFLY AND MOTH COMMUNITIES IN SEMI-NATURAL GRASSLANDS BY CATTLE GRAZING (2004, background): “Although the evaluation of intensive grazing regimes with respect to other organisms has until very recently been lacking (Niemelä and Baur 1998, Kruess and Tscharntke 2002b, WallisDeVries et al. 2002, Vessby et al. 2002), similar intensive grazing regimes have been widely applied in the…”
Factors Influencing Bug Diversity (Insecta: Heteroptera) in Semi-Natural Habitats (2004, background): “Extensive use of meadows and pastures is known to increase overall diversity of insects, including heteropteran bugs (Morris 2000; Di Giulio et al. 2001; Kruess and Tscharntke 2002).”
A biodiversity-friendly rotational grazing system enhancing flower-visiting insect assemblages while maintaining animal and grassland productivity (2017, background): “cattle treatment, due to high flower cover and sward heterogeneity, as suggested by the so-called ‘trophic level’ hypothesis (Kruess and Tscharntke, 2002; Öckinger et al., 2006).”
Effects of livestock breed and grazing intensity on biodiversity and production in grazing systems. 4. Effects on animal diversity (2007, background): “…(King and Hutchinson, 1976; King et al., 1976), Dermpatera (Hutchinson and King, 1980), Diplopoda (Hutchinson and King, 1980), Hemiptera (Morris, 1967; 1968; 1969; 1973; Gibson et al., 1992b; Dennis et al., 1998; Di Giulio et al., 2001; Kruess and Tscharntke, 2002a) and Isopoda (Morris, 1968).”