How sharp is the knife? Herbivore and carnivore sensitivity to resource stoichiometric quality

MEUNIER, CEDRIC L.; BOERSMA, MAARTEN; DECLERCK, STEVEN; LASPOUMADERES, CECILIA

OIKOS

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2023

0030-1299

While understanding feeding preferences of herbivores and carnivores isof major importance in ecology, we still know very little on the sensitivityof different functional groups to suboptimal stoichiometric resourcequality. Here, we apply concepts of ecological stoichiometry to shed lighton differences in the nutritional requirements of herbivores andcarnivores, and to make predictions on the influence of suboptimalresource stoichiometric quality on the fitness of these consumers.Herbivores generally experience more variation in the quality of theirresource than carnivores do, and these differences have likely shapedthe extent to which coping mechanisms have evolved. Consequently, weexpect (1) herbivores to maintain their stoichiometric homeostasis overa broader range of resource stoichiometry than carnivores, (2) the TERof herbivores to be higher than that of carnivores, (3) a sharper knifeedge response in carnivores than herbivores, and (4) asymmetric knifeedge responses showing more pronounced negative growth responses ofconsumers to elemental imbalances they are generally less exposed to,namely nutrient limitation in carnivores and nutrient excess inherbivores.. Our study poses that documenting the ranges of resourcequality where consumer fitness declines in diverse organisms is a verypromising avenue to increase our understanding of communitycomposition and food web functioning.