Article

LINKING APHID ECOLOGY WITH NUTRIENT FLUXES IN A CONIFEROUS FOREST

Bernhard Stadler

Institute for Terrestrial Ecosystem Research, University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany

Search for more papers by this author
Beate Michalzik

Institute for Terrestrial Ecosystem Research, University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany

Search for more papers by this author
Thomas Müller

Centre for Agricultural Landscape and Land Use Research, Müncheberg, Institute of Microbial Ecology and Soil Biology, 14641 Paulinenaue, Germany

Search for more papers by this author
First published: 01 July 1998
Cited by: 55

Abstract

Flows of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in throughfall and soil solutions in forest ecosystems vary spatially and temporally. However, the reasons for the variability of DOC flows are unknown. Phytophagous insects such as aphids have not been considered a potential source of organic carbon, even though aphids feeding on trees excrete copious amounts of honeydew. We followed the key processes determining the origin, flow, and path of honeydew from the phyllosphere of a Norway spruce stand to the soil. We analyzed the chemical composition of needle leachates, throughfall, and soil solution to calculate fluxes of DOC and hexose‐C in an aphid‐infested and an uninfested Norway spruce stand.

At the individual aphid level, the amount of honeydew produced was dependent on temperature, developmental stage, and the nutritional status of spruce. At the population level, colony growth and natural enemies influenced the amount of honeydew available in the phyllosphere. The growth rates of microorganisms on spruce needles were significantly increased when honeydew was available.

This study of the fate of honeydew and associated metabolites within a forest stand shows that the concentrations of DOC and hexose‐C in throughfall were reduced on the way to the soil and that there were no differences in the soil solutions from infested and uninfested stands. However, the distribution and abundance of honeydew‐producing Homoptera had a marked effect on the spatial and temporal variability in the DOC concentrations in throughfall. High DOC concentrations in throughfall during summer are not exclusively due to the leaching of nutrients from leaves, but may also be attributed to the excreta of aphids.

Our results highlight the importance of studying physiological and life history processes in addition to taking the traditional biomass approach to ecosystem studies. We discuss our results with regard to the types of information that are preserved, transformed, or lost when crossing the conceptual border between one scale of observation and another. We emphasize the importance of identifying key processes at different spatiotemporal scales by linking the biology of individuals and populations with flows of energy and matter within an ecosystem, while stressing the need to identify ecosystem changes at different scales of observation.

Number of times cited: 55

  • , Relative importance of honeydew and resin for the microbial activity in wood ant nest and forest floor substrate – a laboratory study, Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 117, (1), (2018).
  • , The Feedback Loop Between Aboveground Herbivores and Soil Microbes via Deposition Processes, Aboveground–Belowground Community Ecology, 10.1007/978-3-319-91614-9_9, (201-221), (2018).
  • , Long-term Entomological Research on Canopy Arthropods in a Tropical Rainforest in Puerto Rico, American Entomologist, 63, 3, (165), (2017).
  • , Consequences of leaf-cutting ants on plant fitness: integrating negative effects of herbivory and positive effects from soil improvement, Insectes Sociaux, 64, 1, (45), (2017).
  • , Laboratory and field studies to evaluate the potential of an open rearing system of Lysiphlebus testaceipes for the control of Aphis craccivora in Argentina, BioControl, 61, 1, (23), (2016).
  • , Base metal fluxes from fig trees to soil on Barro Colorado Island, Panama: potential contribution of the common frugivorous bat Artibeus jamaicensis, Biogeochemistry, 130, 1-2, (13), (2016).
  • , Bibliography, Insect Ecology, 10.1016/B978-0-12-803033-2.00024-8, (609-702), (2016).
  • , Effects of aphid infestation on the biogeochemistry of the water routed through European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) saplings, Biogeochemistry, 129, 1-2, (197), (2016).
  • , Assimilation of plant-derived freshly fixed carbon by soil collembolans: Not only via roots?, Pedobiologia, 10.1016/j.pedobi.2016.07.002, 59, 4, (189-193), (2016).
  • , Do Counts of Salivary Sheath Flanges Predict Food Consumption in Herbivorous Stink Bugs (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae)?, Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 108, 2, (109), (2015).
  • , Herbivorous insect decreases plant nutrient uptake: the role of soil nutrient availability and association of below‐ground symbionts, Ecological Entomology, 39, 4, (511-518), (2014).
  • , Microbial functional diversity in the phyllosphere and laimosphere of different desert plants, Journal of Arid Environments, 107, (26), (2014).
  • , Cascading effects of a highly specialized beech-aphid–fungus interaction on forest regeneration, PeerJ, 2, (e442), (2014).
  • , Community structures of N2‐fixing bacteria associated with the phyllosphere of a Holm oak forest and their response to drought, Plant Biology, 16, 3, (586-593), (2013).
  • , Effects of Insects on Ecosystem Services, Insects and Sustainability of Ecosystem Services, 10.1201/b14911-8, (233-274), (2013).
  • , The Role of Wood Ants (Formica rufa group) in Carbon and Nutrient Dynamics of a Boreal Norway Spruce Forest Ecosystem, Ecosystems, 16, 2, (196), (2013).
  • , Summer season and long‐term drought increase the richness of bacteria and fungi in the foliar phyllosphere of Quercus ilex in a mixed Mediterranean forest, Plant Biology, 14, 4, (565-575), (2012).
  • , Mechanisms of pH change in wood ant (Formica polyctena) nests, Pedobiologia, 55, 5, (247), (2012).
  • , Outbreaks and Ecosystem Services, Insect Outbreaks Revisited, (246-265), (2012).
  • , Insect herbivory, organic matter deposition and effects on belowground organic matter fluxes in a central European oak forest, Plant and Soil, 342, 1-2, (393), (2011).
  • , Bibliography, Insect Ecology, 10.1016/B978-0-12-381351-0.00018-4, (525-606), (2011).
  • , Nitrogen fertilization effects on Myzus persicae aphid dynamics on peach: vegetative growth allocation or chemical defence?, Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata, 136, 2, (123-133), (2010).
  • , Forest Succession and Harvesting of Hemipteran Honeydew by Boreal Ants, Annales Zoologici Fennici, 47, 2, (99), (2010).
  • , Determining the impact of scale insect honeydew, and invasive wasps and rodents, on the decomposer subsystem in a New Zealand beech forest, Biological Invasions, 12, 8, (2619), (2010).
  • , Honeydew, Encyclopedia of Insects, 10.1016/B978-0-12-374144-8.00131-4, (461-463), (2009).
  • , Canopy herbivory altering C to N ratios and soil input patterns of different organic matter fractions in a Scots pine forest, Plant and Soil, 325, 1-2, (255), (2009).
  • , Resilience of soil microbial activity and of amino acid dynamics to the removal of plant carbon inputs during winter, Scientia Agricola, 66, 1, (132), (2009).
  • , Collembola respond to aphid herbivory but not to honeydew addition, Ecological Entomology, 34, 5, (588-594), (2009).
  • , Incidence of honeydew in southern pine-hardwood forests: implications for adult parasitoids of the Southern Pine Beetle,Dendroctonus frontalis(Coleoptera: Scolytidae), Biocontrol Science and Technology, 18, 9, (957), (2008).
  • , Organic mound‐building ants: their impact on soil properties in temperate and boreal forests, Journal of Applied Entomology, 132, 4, (266-275), (2008).
  • , Bottom-up down from the top: Honeydew as a carbon source for soil organisms, European Journal of Soil Biology, 44, 5-6, (483), (2008).
  • , How plants may benefit from their consumers: leaf-cutting ants indirectly improve anti-herbivore defenses in Carduus nutans L, Plant Ecology, 193, 1, (31), (2007).
  • , Changes in Canopy Processes Following Whole-Forest Canopy Nitrogen Fertilization of a Mature Spruce-Hemlock Forest, Ecosystems, 10, 7, (1133), (2007).
  • , Ecology of Australia: the effects of nutrient‐poor soils and intense fires, Biological Reviews, 82, 3, (393-423), (2007).
  • , Ant-mediated effects on spruce litter decomposition, solution chemistry, and microbial activity, Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 38, 3, (561), (2006).
  • , Bibliography, Insect Ecology, 10.1016/B978-012088772-9/50044-3, (483-536), (2006).
  • , Seasonal variation in honeydew sugar content of galling aphids (Aphidoidea: Pemphigidae: Fordinae) feeding on Pistacia: Host ecology and aphid physiology, Basic and Applied Ecology, 7, 2, (141), (2006).
  • , THE ECOLOGY OF ENERGY AND NUTRIENT FLUXES IN HEMLOCK FORESTS INVADED BY HEMLOCK WOOLLY ADELGID, Ecology, 87, 7, (1792-1804), (2006).
  • , Vertical stratification in the spatial distribution of the beech scale insect (Ultracoelostoma assimile) in Nothofagus tree canopies in New Zealand, Ecological Entomology, 31, 2, (185-195), (2006).
  • , Effects of altitude on aphid‐mediated processes in the canopy of Norway spruce, Agricultural and Forest Entomology, 7, 2, (133-143), (2005).
  • , Importance of canopy herbivores to dissolved and particulate organic matter fluxes to the forest floor, Geoderma, 127, 3-4, (227), (2005).
  • , Temporal fluctuations in throughfall carbon concentrations in a spruce forest, Ecological Modelling, 176, 3-4, (381), (2004).
  • , Effects of nitrogen deposition and insect herbivory on patterns of ecosystem‐level carbon and nitrogen dynamics: results from the CENTURY model, Global Change Biology, 10, 7, (1092-1105), (2004).
  • , Diversity of culturable phyllosphere bacteria on beech and oak: the effects of lepidopterous larvae, Microbiological Research, 158, 4, (291), (2003).
  • , A review and evaluation of stemflow literature in the hydrologic and biogeochemical cycles of forested and agricultural ecosystems, Journal of Hydrology, 274, 1-4, (1), (2003).
  • , , (2003)., Fungi in Ecosystem Processes
  • , Aphid‐induced reduction of shoot and root growth in Douglas‐fir seedlings, Ecological Entomology, 26, 4, (411-416), (2008).
  • , The ecological consequences of social wasps (Vespula spp.) invading an ecosystem that has an abundant carbohydrate resource, Biological Conservation, 99, 1, (17), (2001).
  • , Effects of Elatobium abietinum on nutrient fluxes in Sitka spruce canopies receiving elevated nitrogen and sulphur deposition, Agricultural and Forest Entomology, 3, 4, (253-261), (2001).
  • , Effects of aphids and moth caterpillars on epiphytic microorganisms in canopies of forest trees, Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 30, 4, (631), (2000).
  • , Effects of phytophagous insects on soil solution chemistry: herbivores as switches for the nutrient dynamics in the soil, Basic and Applied Ecology, 1, 2, (117), (2000).
  • , Dynamics of dissolved organic nitrogen and carbon in a Central European Norway spruce ecosystem, European Journal of Soil Science, 50, 4, (579-590), (2001).
  • , Aphids on Norway spruce and their effects on forest-floor solution chemistry, Forest Ecology and Management, 118, 1-3, (1), (1999).
  • , The impact of spruce aphids on nutrient flows in the canopy of Norway spruce, Agricultural and Forest Entomology, 1, 1, (3-9), (2001).
  • , The Effect of Temperature Increases on an Ant-Hemiptera-Plant Interaction, PLOS ONE, 10.1371/journal.pone.0155131, 11, 7, (e0155131), (2016).