Climate warming and trophic mismatches in terrestrial ecosystems: the green–brown imbalance hypothesis

Abstract

Anthropogenic climate change can give rise to trophic mismatches in food webs owing to differential responses of consumer and resource organisms. However, we know little about the community and ecosystem level consequences of trophic mismatches in food webs. Terrestrial food webs are broadly comprised of two types of food webs: green food webs aboveground and brown food webs belowground between which mass and energy flow mainly via plants. Here, I highlight that the extent of warming-induced trophic mismatches in green and brown food webs differ owing to a greater stasis in brown food webs, which could trigger an imbalance in mass and energy flow between the two food webs. I then discuss the consequences of green–brown imbalance on terrestrial ecosystems and propose research avenues that can help understand the relationships between food webs and ecosystem functions in a warmer world.