Why is the amount of light an important determinant of predator biomass?
More light means more photosynthesis. More plant material means more herbivores, which translates into more predator biomass. Figure 55.17 Effect of species richness on ecosystem stability and productivity. (a) One of the Cedar Creek experimental plots. (b) Community stability can be assessed by looking at the effect of species richness on community invasibility. Each dot represents data from one experimental plot in the Cedar Creek experimental fields. Plots with more species are harder to invade by non-native species, which occur in surrounding agricultural fields. How could you devise an experiment on invasibility that didn’t rely on species from surrounding areas? Answer: Introduce them yourself. For example, each spring, you could place a premeasured number of seeds of a particular invasive species in each plot. Such an experiment would have the advantage of more precisely controlling the opportunity for invasion, but also would be less natural, which is one of the advantages of t
