Plant diversity modifies multi-trophic interactions in croplands, grasslands and forests

Main Highlights

• Analysis of 149 field studies across five continents revealed that plant diversity influences food web interactions across ecosystems.
• In croplands, greater plant diversity substantially increased predator-to-herbivore ratios, supporting natural pest control.
• In grasslands and forests, higher plant diversity promoted productivity that increased both herbivore and predator populations.
• Results suggest diversified farming can help prevent crop pest outbreaks and support more sustainable agricultural systems.

Abstract

Multitrophic interactions can strongly influence the structure and functioning of ecosystems, but how plant diversity influences the direction and predictability of multitrophic interactions across agricultural and natural ecosystems remains unclear. Using 149 field studies across five continents, we found that, on average, increasing plant diversity tended to exert differential top-down and bottom-up effects in croplands versus grasslands and forests. Organic and nonorganic croplands exhibited 846 and 148% higher invertebrate natural enemy-to-herbivore abundance ratios under increased plant diversity, consistent with top-down control patterns where predator gains cause herbivore declines, enhancing crop outcomes. In grasslands and forests, increasing plant diversity was associated with bottom-up effects where enhanced productivity increased both herbivore and predator populations, with the enemy-to-herbivore ratio increasing 4.73% for grasslands and 21.2% for forests. Our findings suggest that biodiversity effects on productivity are not solely explained by direct plant-plant interactions and the resulting biodiversity-productivity relationship. Rather, they reveal patterns consistent with the framework of top-down and bottom-up effects, the relative balance of which may vary depending on ecosystem and management type. The magnitude of the effects of diversified farming on crop pests suggests that crop diversification may be an important avenue for managing crop pests preventatively and thereby enhancing agricultural sustainability.

Citation

Nian-Feng Wan et al. ,Plant diversity modifies multi-trophic interactions in croplands, grasslands and forests.Sci. Adv.12,eaeb8680(2026).DOI:10.1126/sciadv.aeb8680