Title:
How Does Omnivory Influence the Effects of Consumer Diversity on Resource Prey Biomass?
How Does Omnivory Influence the Effects of Consumer Diversity on Resource Prey Biomass?
Speaker:
張峰勳 (Oscar Feng-Hsun Chang), PhD candidate, University of Michigan
張峰勳 (Oscar Feng-Hsun Chang), PhD candidate, University of Michigan
Time:
03/02 (Sat.) 7 pm PST, 8 pm MST, 9 pm CST, 10 pm EST
03/03 (Sun.) 11 am Taiwan
03/02 (Sat.) 7 pm PST, 8 pm MST, 9 pm CST, 10 pm EST
03/03 (Sun.) 11 am Taiwan
Keywords:
Ecology, Community ecology, Ecosystem ecology
Ecology, Community ecology, Ecosystem ecology
Abstract:
It is crucial to understand what drives and regulates the biomass production of plants and animals since plant and consumer biomass provide the resources necessary to sustain numerous aspects of human life. Over the past two decades, scientists have generally agreed that plant diversity, i.e. the variety of plant species, genes and functional groups coexisting in an ecosystem, has a positive effect on plant biomass production presumably due to resource partitioning. In contrast, we still have a rudimentary understanding of how resource prey captured by consumers and, in turn, secondary production, is affected by consumer diversity. Similar to plants, consumer diversity can positively affect prey capture when consumers partition their resource prey. However, consumer diversity can also have a greater variety of impacts on prey consumption due to more complex interspecific interactions like omnivory. Omnivory occurs when animals eat each other, which is rare among plants. More complex inter-specific interactions in consumers could either weaken or strengthen the effects of consumer diversity on prey consumption depending on the strength of omnivorous consumption. To mechanistically understand how consumer diversity affects secondary production, we need to understand how omnivory interacts with resource partitioning to regulate prey consumption.
It is crucial to understand what drives and regulates the biomass production of plants and animals since plant and consumer biomass provide the resources necessary to sustain numerous aspects of human life. Over the past two decades, scientists have generally agreed that plant diversity, i.e. the variety of plant species, genes and functional groups coexisting in an ecosystem, has a positive effect on plant biomass production presumably due to resource partitioning. In contrast, we still have a rudimentary understanding of how resource prey captured by consumers and, in turn, secondary production, is affected by consumer diversity. Similar to plants, consumer diversity can positively affect prey capture when consumers partition their resource prey. However, consumer diversity can also have a greater variety of impacts on prey consumption due to more complex interspecific interactions like omnivory. Omnivory occurs when animals eat each other, which is rare among plants. More complex inter-specific interactions in consumers could either weaken or strengthen the effects of consumer diversity on prey consumption depending on the strength of omnivorous consumption. To mechanistically understand how consumer diversity affects secondary production, we need to understand how omnivory interacts with resource partitioning to regulate prey consumption.
