Disturbance from ecosystem drivers operating at watershed spatial scales exhibits strong effects on local arthropod species diversity, acting indirectly by mediating changes in the spatial heterogeneity of local vegetation structure and plant species diversity.
Both the averagecarbon isotope ratio for a grasshopper species and the variability of carbon isotope ratios among individuals of the species are useful in predicting grasshoppers diet in terms of mixtures of Ci and C4 plants.
Significant differences in grasshopper density were detected among adjacent watersheds from Kansas Flint Hills tallgrass prairie that differed in fire frequency and especially bison grazing treatments.
Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical…
1 May 2013
TLDR
There is a basic lack of understanding of the direct and indirect paths by which invertebrates influence ecosystem services, as well as how climate change will affect those ecosystem services by altering invertebrate populations.
It is shown that closely related, cooccurring and generalist-feeding herbivores (seven grasshopper species in the genus Melanoplus; Orthoptera: Acrididae) eat protein and carbohydrate in different absolute amounts and ratios even if they eat the same plant taxa, indicating the active nature of diet selection to achieve balanced diets and provide buffering capacity in the face of variable food quality.
The results confirm the positive association of N and P with insect herbivore populations, while suggesting a potential role for Mg, Na, and K, and demonstrate the importance of exploring effects at the feeding-guild level.
Factors that alter the availability of quality diet, especially total N levels, can contribute to demographic responses in A. deorum, and the rate of pod production rather than number of eggs per pod best explained changes in reproductive rate.
Sustainable strategies to minimize the likelihood and extent of grasshopper outbreaks while limiting the need for chemical intervention are a rational and attainable goal for managing grasslands as renewable resources.
Diet dilution greatly influenced the survival, development, weight gain and the proportional allocation to gut dry weight relative to body dry weight of Melanoplus differentialis (Orthoptera: Acrididae); increased gut size contributed to the ability to compensate for reduced food quality.
Grasshopper feeding patterns present some problems to the current theory of herbivore diet specialization since forb feeding melanoplines tend to be polyphagous (contrary to predictions).