Insects are a dominant component of biodiversity in terrestrial ecosystems and play a key role in mediating the relationship between plants and ecosystem processes. This volume examines their effects on ecosystem functioning, focusing mainly, but not exclusively, on herbivorous insects. Renowned authors with extensive experience in the field of plant-insect interactions, contribute to the volume using examples from their own work.

Inhalt

1 The various effects of insects on ecosystem functioning

Wolfgang Weisser and Evan Siemann

2 Insect herbivores, nutrient cycling and plant productivity

Susan Hartley and Hefin Jones

3 Indirect effects of invertebrate herbivory on the decomposer subsystem

David Wardle and Richard Bardgett

4 Biotic interactions in the rhizosphere: effects on plant growth

and herbivore development

Michael Bonkowski and Stefan Scheu

5 Below-ground herbivores and ecosystem processes

Gregory J. Masters

6 Bottom-up effects and feed-backs in simple and diverse experimental grassland communities

Jasmin Joshi, Stuart J. Otway, Julia Koricheva, Andrea B. Pfisterer, Jörn Alphei, B. A. Roy, Michael Scherer-Lorenzen, Bernhard Schmid, Eva Spehn and Andrew Hector

7 The potential of phytophagous insects in restoring invaded ecosystems: examples from biological weed control

Helmut Zwölfer and Helmuth Zimmerman

8 Plant-insect-pathogen interactions on local and regional scales

Andreas Kruess, Sabine Eber, Stephanie Kluth and Teja Tscharntke

9 Food web interactions and ecosystem processes

Arne Janssen and Maurice W. Sabelis

10 The role of outbreaking insects in plant community dynamics

Walter Carson, J. Patrick Cronin and Zachary T. Long

11 The ecology driving nutrient fluxes in forests

Bernhard Stadler, Eva Mühlenberg and Beate Michalzik

12 Simulating herbivory: problems and possibilities

Joakim Hjältén

13 The use and usefulness of artificial herbivory in plant-herbivore studies

Kari Lehtilä and Elin Boalt

14 From mesocosms to the field: the role and value of cage experiments in understanding top-down effects in ecosystems

Oswald J. Schmitz

15 Reducing herbivory using insecticides

Evan Siemann, Walt P Carson, William E. Rogers and Wolfgang W. Weisser

16 The role of herbivores in alien plant invasions: insights using a combination of methods to enhance or reduce herbivory

William Rogers and Evan Siemann

17 Herbivore-specific transcriptional responses and their research potential for ecosystem studies

Claudia Voelckel and Ian T. Baldwin

18 Testing the role of insects for ecosystem functioning

Evan Siemann and Wolfgang Weisser