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The omnivorous collared peccary negates an insectivore-generated trophic cascade in Costa Rican wet tropical forest understorey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2013

Nicole L. Michel ,
Thomas W. Sherry  and
Walter P. Carson
Nicole L. Michel*
Affiliation:
School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan, 117 Science Place, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5C8, Canada Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University, 400 Boggs Hall, 6823 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70118, USA
Thomas W. Sherry
Affiliation:
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University, 400 Boggs Hall, 6823 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70118, USA
Walter P. Carson
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, 154A Crawford Hall, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
*
1Corresponding author. Email: Nicole.L.Michel1@gmail.com
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Abstract:

Insectivorous birds and bats often protect plants through density- and trait-mediated cascades, but the degree to which insectivores reduce herbivorous arthropods and leaf damage varies among systems. Top-down interaction strength may be influenced by the biotic and abiotic context, including the presence of vegetation-disturbing animals. We tested two hypotheses: (1) insectivorous birds and bats initiate trophic cascades in tropical rain-forest understorey; and (2) the native, omnivorous collared peccary (Pecari tajacu) negates these cascades via non-trophic effects. We studied the top-down effects of birds and bats on understorey plants in north-eastern Costa Rica using 60 netted exclosures within and outside existing peccary exclosures. Excluding birds and bats increased total arthropod densities by half, both with and without peccaries. Bird/bat exclosures increased Diptera density by 28% and leaf damage by 24% without peccaries, consistent with a trophic cascade. However, bird/bat exclosures decreased Diptera density by 32% and leaf damage by 34% with peccaries, a negation of the trophic cascade. Excluding peccaries increased leaf damage by 43% on plants without birds and bats. This is the first study, to our knowledge, to demonstrate that the non-trophic activity of an omnivorous ungulate can reverse a trophic cascade.

Keywords

density-mediatedherbivoryinsectivoryLa Selva Biological Stationnon-trophic effectsPecari tajacutrait-mediatedtrophic cascadetrophic downgradingungulates
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 30 , Issue 1 , January 2014 , pp. 1 - 11
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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