4.2 Review

Linkages among trait-mediated indirect effects: a new framework for the indirect interaction web

Journal

POPULATION ECOLOGY
Volume 52, Issue 4, Pages 485-497

Publisher

WILEY
DOI: 10.1007/s10144-010-0237-2

Keywords

Biodiversity; Community structure; Complexity; Herbivore-induced plant response; Plant-insect interaction; Plant-mediated indirect effect

Categories

Funding

  1. Global COE program [A06]
  2. Japan Society for the Promotion of Science for Young Scientists [22-9260]

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Plants have diverse ways of responding to damage by herbivores, such as changes in allelochemistry, physiology, morphology, growth, and phenology. These responses form the mechanistic basis for trait-mediated indirect interactions (TMIIs) between organisms on the plants. There is a growing appreciation that such TMIIs form complex networks (i.e., indirect interaction webs) in terrestrial plant-associated arthropod communities. Almost all previous studies have had the same framework: examining trait-mediated indirect effects within a single interactive unit consisting of one initiator of herbivore, a host plant as a mediator, and one receiver [trait-mediated indirect interaction unit (TMIU)]. However, this framework is too simple to understand the dynamics of the indirect interaction web. Recent studies suggest that there is a wide variety of interactions among TMIUs within a community, which may largely affect the outcomes of indirect effects in each unit. Here, we review recent advance in studies of trait-mediated indirect effects in plant-associated arthropod communities and explore the mechanisms of linkages among TMIUs. Then, we argue the importance of examining linkages among TMIUs as a new framework for future studies on the indirect interaction web. Finally, we propose the hypothesis that linkages among TMIUs contribute to the maintenance of biodiversity.

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