Bottom‐up trophic cascades and material transfer in terrestrial food webs

Abstract

AbstractIn contrast to top‐down trophic cascades, few reviews have appeared of bottom‐up trophic cascades. We review the recent development of research on bottom‐up cascades in terrestrial food webs, focusing on tritrophic systems consisting of plants, herbivorous insects, and natural enemies, and attempt to integrate bottom‐up cascade and material transfer among trophic levels. Bottom‐up cascades are frequently reported in various tritrophic systems, and are important to determine community structure, population dynamics, and individual performance of higher trophic levels. In addition, we highlight several features of bottom‐up cascades. Accumulation or dilution of plant nutritional and defensive materials by herbivorous insects provides a mechanistic base for several bottom‐up cascades. Such a stoichiometric approach has the potential to improve our understanding of bottom‐up cascading effects in terrestrial food webs. We suggest a future direction for research by integration of bottom‐up cascades and material transfer among trophic levels.