Plant Diversity Effects on Multitrophic Interactions

Plant diversity is a key determinant of ecosystem structure and function, influencing interactions across multiple trophic levels. Diverse plant communities enhance resource heterogeneity and habitat complexity, supporting richer and more stable herbivore assemblages. In turn, elevated herbivore diversity can sustain higher predator and parasitoid populations, strengthening top-down control and promoting pest regulation. Structural diversity, such as variation in canopy layers and vegetation architecture, and functional diversity, defined by the range of plant traits, both mediate these effects. By altering the abundance, richness and evenness of consumer species, plant diversity contributes to ecosystem resilience, nutrient cycling and primary productivity. These mechanisms have global significance for agroecosystems, restoration efforts and forest management, where strategic planting schemes can harness multitrophic interactions to bolster ecosystem services and reduce reliance on chemical controls.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Seminal analyses have begun to unravel how distinct components of plant diversity drive consumer richness across ecosystems. One comprehensive study demonstrated that increases in plant species richness consistently boost herbivore, predator and parasitoid richness in both experimental forests and grasslands. These effects are mediated by enhanced structural complexity and trait diversity within plant assemblages. Importantly, the relative importance of species richness versus structural and functional diversity varies among trophic levels, with many higher-order consumer richness effects arising indirectly through changes in consumer abundance. Such work clarifies the mechanistic pathways by which plant diversity sustains multitrophic biodiversity and ecosystem resilience.

Research from all publishers

A recent urban forestry investigation revealed that local and landscape-scale vegetation richness differentially shape the richness and abundance of aphid-feeding natural enemies. Optimal predator communities emerged in plots with a balance of tree and shrub cover combined with high floral diversity, resulting in lower aphid densities. In an alpine meadow experiment, targeted removal of plant functional groups paradoxically increased arthropod richness and abundance; the impact on herbivores and predators varied with the identity of the removed groups, underscoring the role of species identity in trophic cascades. A forest-based review of the “enemies” hypothesis found that increased tree species richness does not uniformly enhance predator diversity or top-down control. Instead, tree functional traits, phylogenetic diversity and contextual factors such as latitude and intraguild interactions are critical in shaping natural enemy responses.

Plant Diversity Effects on Multitrophic Interactions publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in plant diversity effects on multitrophic interactions across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Multitrophic interactions: Biological linkages among organisms at three or more trophic levels (for example, plants, herbivores and predators).

Structural diversity: Variation in the physical arrangement of vegetation, including canopy height, layering and spatial heterogeneity.

Functional diversity: Range and value distribution of plant traits that influence ecosystem processes and species interactions.

Plant species richness: Count of distinct plant species within a defined area.

Shannon–Wiener diversity: A metric combining species richness and evenness to quantify community diversity.

References

1. Multiple plant diversity components drive consumer communities across ecosystems. Nature Communications (2019).
2. Impact of plant community structure and its diversity on richness and abundance of arthropod aphidophagous natural enemy community. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening (2023).
3. The loss of plant functional groups increased arthropod diversity in an alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau. Frontiers in Plant Science (2024).
4. The Influence of Tree Diversity on Natural Enemies—a Review of the “Enemies” Hypothesis in Forests. Current Forestry Reports (2020).