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Temporal variation in tree diversity effects on birds and its implications for top-down control of insect herbivores in a tropical system

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Abstract

Tree diversity promotes predator abundance and diversity, but evidence linking these effects to increased predation pressure on herbivores remains limited. In addition, tree diversity effects on predators can vary temporally as a function of environmental variation, or due to contrasting responses by different predator types. In a multi-year study, we assessed temporal variation in tree diversity effects on bird community abundance, diversity, and predation rates as a whole and by functional group based on feeding guild (omnivores vs. insectivores) and migratory status (migrant vs. resident). To this end, we conducted bird point counts in tree monocultures and polycultures and assessed attacks on clay caterpillars four times over a 2-year period in a tree diversity experiment in Yucatan, Mexico. Tree diversity effects on the bird community varied across surveys, with positive effects on bird abundance and diversity in most but not all surveys. Tree diversity had stronger and more consistent effects on omnivorous and resident birds than on insectivorous and migratory species. Tree diversity effects on attack rates also varied temporally but patterns did not align with variation in bird abundance or diversity. Thus, while we found support for predicted increases in bird abundance, diversity, and predation pressure with tree diversity, these responses exhibited substantial variation over time and the former two were uncoupled from patterns of predation pressure, as well as contingent on bird functional traits. These results underscore the need for long-term studies measuring responses by different predator functional groups to better understand tree diversity effects on top-down control.

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All data generated or analysed during this study will be included in the supplementary information files and/or stored in a public repository.

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Funding

This research was financially supported by CONACYT (CB-2015-01-250925) awarded to L.A.R. and V.P.T. CVG was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from the Xunta de Galicia-GAIN/Fulbright (IN606B 2021/004). The authors thank the INIFAP staff at the Uxmal Experimental Site for logistic support. We thank Y. May, A. Súarez, D. Pérez, E. Alcocer, C. Padilla, R. Avilés, W. Adrián, Y. Chontal, C. Chavez Chablé and L. Vázquez May for field assistance.

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Author notes

  1. Kailen A. Mooney and Luis Abdala-Roberts share the senior authorship.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California-Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA

    Carla Vázquez-González & Kailen A. Mooney

  2. Misión Biológica de Galicia (MBG-CSIC), Apartado de Correos 28, 36080, Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain

    Carla Vázquez-González

  3. Departamento de Ecología Tropical, Campus de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Apartado Postal 4-116, Itzimná, 97000, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico

    Edith Villa-Galaviz, Martha Reyes-Hernández, Biiniza Perez-Niño, Teresa Quijano-Medina, Víctor Parra-Tabla & Luis Abdala-Roberts

Authors
  1. Carla Vázquez-González
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  8. Luis Abdala-Roberts
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Contributions

Formulated the idea of the manuscript and designed the experiment: LAR. Performed the experiment: MRH, EVG, BPN, TQM. Analysed the data: CVG. Wrote the first draft of the manuscript: CVG. Contributed critically to the writing: LAR and KAM. All co-authors contributed with editions to previous versions of the manuscript and all authors gave final approval for publication and agree to be held accountable for the work performed therein.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Luis Abdala-Roberts.

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The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work and have nothing to disclose.

Additional information

Communicated by Francisco E Fonturbel.

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Supplementary file1 (DOCX 2259 KB)

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Vázquez-González, C., Villa-Galaviz, E., Reyes-Hernández, M. et al. Temporal variation in tree diversity effects on birds and its implications for top-down control of insect herbivores in a tropical system. Oecologia 204, 603–612 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-024-05514-1

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