Herbivores disrupt the flow of food resources to termites in dryland ecosystems

Irruption of herbivore populations due to the extirpation of predators has led to dramatic changes in ecosystem functioning worldwide. Herbivores compete with other species for their primary source of nutrition, plant biomass. Such competition is typically considered to occur between species in closely related clades and functional groups but could also occur with detritivores that consume senescent plant biomass. In this study, we tested predictions that in ecosystems where herbivores are not regulated by predators, their indirect impacts on dead vegetation increase with primary productivity and extend to termites that feed on senescent vegetation. We compared dead vegetation cover and termite activity in herbivore exclosures and associated grazed plots at three locations situated along a rainfall gradient in arid Australia where kangaroo populations have irrupted. Dead vegetation cover and termite activity increased with rainfall in ungrazed plots but showed a negligible response to rainfall in grazed plots. Our results suggest that grazing can disrupt the flow of energy to detritivores and decouple the relationship between termite activity and primary productivity. Such disruption could have far-reaching impacts on arid ecosystems because many organisms sit within brown food webs that are sustained by energy derived from the decomposition of senescent plant tissues.

Automated summary

Extirpation of predators has caused an explosion in herbivore populations, leading to significant ecosystem changes. Herbivores not only compete with closely related species for plant biomass, but also with detritivores that consume senescent plant material. This study examined the indirect impacts of herbivores on dead vegetation and termite activity in Australian arid ecosystems. The results showed that grazing disrupted the energy flow to detritivores and decoupled the relationship between termite activity and primary productivity.