Relationships between Plant Diversity and Grasshopper Diversity and Abundance in the Little Missouri National Grassland

David H Branson

doi:10.1155/2011/748635

Abstract

A continuing challenge in orthopteran ecology is to understand what determines grasshopper species diversity at a given site. In this study, the objective was to determine if variation in grasshopper abundance and diversity between 23 sites in western North Dakota (USA) could be explained by variation in plant species richness and diversity. In this system with relatively low plant diversity, grasshopper species richness and abundance were not significantly associated with plant species richness in either year. Although a number of significant associations between plant diversity and grasshopper diversity were found through regression analyses, results differed greatly between years indicating that plant species richness and diversity did not lead to strong effects on grasshopper diversity metrics. Plant species richness appears to be too coarse grained to lead to accurate predictions of grasshopper species richness in this system dominated by generalist grasshopper species.

Highlights

Grassland insect diversity is often linked to plant species composition and habitat structure [1,2,3,4]
In most grassland ecosystems the nature of relationships between plant species richness and grasshopper abundance and diversity remains unclear [3, 4]
The objective of this study was to determine if variation in grasshopper abundance and diversity between 23 sites in western North Dakota (US) could be explained by variation in plant species richness and diversity

Summary

Introduction

Grassland insect diversity is often linked to plant species composition and habitat structure [1,2,3,4]. Numerous factors could influence grasshopper species diversity including resource availability, habitat structure, escape space, and predators [4, 9, 10]. Management practices such as livestock grazing and fire impact plant species composition and subsequently affect grasshopper species composition [4, 11]. In most grassland ecosystems the nature of relationships between plant species richness and grasshopper abundance and diversity remains unclear [3, 4]

Objectives

Methods

Results