The Bug‐Network ( BugNet ): A Global Experimental Network Testing the Effects of Invertebrate Herbivores and Fungal Pathogens on Plant Communities and Ecosystem Function in Open Ec...

• Autores: Kempel, Anne; Adamidis, George C.; Anadón, José D.; Atkinson, Joe; Auge, Harald; Avtzis, Dimitrios; Bachelot, Benedicte; Bashirzadeh, Maral; Bota, Julien L.; Classen, Aimee; Constantinou, Ioannis; Crawley, Mick; de Bellis, Tonia; Dostal, Petr; Ebeling, Anne; Eisenhauer, Nico; Eldridge, David J.; Encina, Gustavo; Estrada, Catalina; Everingham, Susan; Fanin, Nicolas; Gooriah, Leana; Graff, Barbara Pamela; Loydi, Alejandro; Oyarzabal, Mariano; Xystrakis, Fotios; Yang, Jie; Yang, Siwei; Zografou, Konstantina; Allan, Eric
• Año de publicación: 2025
• Idioma: inglés
• Tipo de recurso: artículo
• Materia: exclusion experiment; fungal pathogens; globally coordinated experimental network; maintenanceof biodiversity; fungal pathogens; maintenanceof biodiversity
• Institución: Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas

Plants are consumed by a variety of organisms, including herbivores and pathogens, which significantly impact plant biomass, diversity, community composition, and ecosystem functioning. While the impacts of vertebrate herbivores are well established, the effects of consumer groups such as insect herbivores, mollusks, and fungal pathogens on plant communities are less clear and remain understudied in many systems. Existing evidence of how they affect plant biomass, diversity, and community composition is mixed, and most studies have focused on individual consumer groups in isolation. However, different consumer groups interact with each other, directly or indirectly, in ways that alter their impacts on plants, and the consequences of these interactions for plant community structure and ecosystem function remain understudied. Further, consumer impacts vary across environmental gradients and likely depend on abiotic conditions such as climate, soil type, or elevation, and biotic conditions such as plant productivity, diversity, or community composition. Existing studies testing the impacts of invertebrate herbivores and fungal pathogens on plant communities differ substantially in methodology, making generalities across large scales difficult. This calls for experimental approaches that implement standardized protocols across many sites. Here, we introduce and report on the methodology of a novel global research network, The Bug-Network (BugNet), that implements standardized consumer-reduction experiments across 5 continents and 18 countries in diverse, herbaceous- or shrub-dominated ecosystems to investigate: (1) the influence of fungal pathogens, insect herbivores, and mollusks on plant diversity and ecosystem functioning, (2) interactions among these consumer groups, and (3) the abiotic and biotic drivers of context-dependent consumer impacts. BugNet aims to advance a predictive understanding of plant-consumer interactions in order to test fundamental ecological hypotheses and improve predictions of global change impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
Fil: Kempel, Anne. WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research; Suiza. Extremes and Natural Hazards in Alpine Regions Research Centre CERC; Suiza
Fil: Adamidis, George C.. University Of Patras (university Of Patras);
Fil: Anadón, José D.. Pyrenean Institute of Ecology; España. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; España
Fil: Atkinson, Joe. University of Adelaide; Australia
Fil: Auge, Harald. Forest Research Institute. Hellenic Agricultural Organization Demeter; Grecia
Fil: Avtzis, Dimitrios. Forest Research Institute. Hellenic Agricultural Organization Demeter; Grecia
Fil: Bachelot, Benedicte. Oklahoma State University; Estados Unidos
Fil: Bashirzadeh, Maral. University of Mazandaran; Irán
Fil: Bota, Julien L.. Extremes and Natural Hazards in Alpine Regions Research Centre CERC; Suiza. WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research; Suiza
Fil: Classen, Aimee. University of Michigan; Estados Unidos
Fil: Constantinou, Ioannis. Imperial College London; Reino Unido
Fil: Crawley, Mick. Imperial College London; Reino Unido
Fil: de Bellis, Tonia. Concordia University; Canadá. Dawson College; Canadá
Fil: Dostal, Petr. Czech Academy of Sciences; República Checa
Fil: Ebeling, Anne. University Jena; Alemania
Fil: Eisenhauer, Nico. Universitat Leipzig; Alemania
Fil: Eldridge, David J.. University of New South Wales; Australia
Fil: Encina, Gustavo. Universidad de Talca; Chile
Fil: Estrada, Catalina. Imperial College London; Reino Unido
Fil: Everingham, Susan. University of Bern; Suiza
Fil: Fanin, Nicolas. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique; Francia
Fil: Gooriah, Leana. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique; Francia
Fil: Graff, Barbara Pamela. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Cesáreo Naredo; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Loydi, Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida; Argentina
Fil: Oyarzabal, Mariano. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Cesáreo Naredo; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Xystrakis, Fotios. Hellenic Agricultural Organization Demeter; Grecia
Fil: Yang, Jie. Gansu Agricultural University; China
Fil: Yang, Siwei. Sichuan Academy of Grassland Science; China
Fil: Zografou, Konstantina. University of Ioannina; Grecia
Fil: Allan, Eric. University of Bern; Suiza