Multitrophic Level Interactions [Hardcover]

This book explores the complex interactions between plants, their herbivores and natural enemies.Multitrophic Level Interactions provides an important update into the fast growing field of community ecology. Addressing interactions between plants, plant feeders and natural enemies, it focuses on habitat conditions where multitrophic interactions are important and determines the relative importance of top-down effects (control by predators) and bottom-up effects (control by resources). It will be an important guide to future research in all ecological disciplines.Multitrophic Level Interactions provides an important update into the fast growing field of community ecology. Addressing interactions between plants, plant feeders and natural enemies, it focuses on habitat conditions where multitrophic interactions are important and determines the relative importance of top-down effects (control by predators) and bottom-up effects (control by resources). It will be an important guide to future research in all ecological disciplines.The multitrophic level approach to ecology addresses the complexity of food webs much more realistically than the traditional focus on simple systems and interactions. Only in the last twenty years have ecologists become interested in the nature of more complex systems including tritrophic interactions between plants, herbivores, and natural enemies. These interactions are explored in this exciting new volume by expert researchers from a variety of ecological fields. This book provides a much-needed synthesis of multitrophic level interactions and serves as a guide for future research for ecologists of all descriptions.1. Multitrophic level interactions - an introduction T. Tscharntke and B. A. Hawkins; 2. Plant genetic variation in tritrophic interactions J. D. Hare; 3. Multitrophic/multi-species mutualistic interactions: the role of non-mutualists in shaping and mediating mutualisms J. L. Bronstein and P. Barbosa; 4. Tritrophic interactions iló(