Primary consumers are under strong selection from resource ('bottom‐up') and consumer
('top‐down') controls, but the relative importance of these selective forces is unknown. We …

Claims about the role of predator diversity in maintaining ecosystem function and providing
ecosystem services such as pest control are controversial, but evaluative tests are beginning …

Numerous studies show that landscape simplification reduces abundance and diversity of
natural enemies in agroecosystems, but its effect on natural pest control remains poorly …

It is well established that species richness of primary producers and primary consumers can
enhance efficiency of resource uptake and biomass production of respective trophic levels …

Ecology Letters (2012) 15: 436–443 Abstract Understanding effects of species loss in
complex food webs with multiple trophic levels is complicated by the idiosyncrasy of the …

Numerous studies have demonstrated that diverse predator assemblages can be more
effective at controlling prey populations. Yet, other studies have shown no effect of predator …

Recent shifts in agricultural practices have resulted in altered pesticide use patterns, land
use intensification, and landscape simplification, all of which threaten biodiversity in and …

Ecology Letters (2010) 13: 338–348 Abstract More diverse communities of consumers
typically use more resources, which often is attributed to resource partitioning. However …

Rainforest conversion into monoculture plantations results in species loss and community
shifts across animal taxa. The effect of such conversion on the role of ecophysiological …

Predatory arthropods can exert strong top-down control on ecosystem functions. However,
despite extensive theory and experimental manipulations of predator diversity, our …