Supporting information
Appendix S1. Grasshopper and plant functional traits
3
IS
La/Li
Ee
2
1
1/Ri
Cb
56 %
-4
Cd
0
-3
CN
-2
-1
0
Pp 1
A
2
BS
3
Pg
-2
39 %
-1
Ci
Fig. S1A. Co-variation between grasshopper species traits in a principal component analysis
(PCA). Species are represented in black and traits in grey. The two orthogonal axes explain
respectively 56% and 39% of the total variance..Grasshopper species abbreviations are: Cb:
C. biguttulus, Cd: C. dorsatus, Ci: C. italicus, Ee: E. elegantulus, Pg: P. giornae, Pp: P.
parallelus. See the main text for grasshopper trait abbreviations.
Method S1. Plant functional traits
Plant functional traits were extracted from a global survey conducted in the LTER (“Zone
atelier Plaine et Val de Sèvre”) study site in 2012 on 25 grasslands representative of the
grassland diversity in the studied region. Traits were measured using standardised protocols
(Cornelissen et al. 2003). Within each of the 25 grasslands, we selected plant species
representing more than 80% of the total biomass. All leaf trait measurements were carried out
on 8 individuals per species. 84 species and 1802 individuals were sampled. In the present
paper, we selected seven leaf traits related to (1) plant chemical properties: leaf nitrogen
content (LNC), carbon/nitrogen ratio (C:N) and specific leaf area (SLA), (2) plant
biomechanical properties: leaf dry matter content (LDMC), leaf thickness (LT) and leaf
carbon content (LCC) and (3) architectural properties: leaf area (LA), and perimeter / leaf
length ratio (P:LL).
25%
3
LDMC
Er
Pa
Fr
Be
Fa
Bh
C:N
-2
Pr
Pl
Am
Lv
PmCsp
Pe
Sj
Esp
2
RfAe
Dg
1Pp
Pt
Gv
0
-1
LT
0
Dc
Ra
Sp
VoCj
-1
LCC
Tc
Pr
Tp
P:LLVs
Ms LNCLc
SLA
Ca Tr
Lp
1
2
Gr
GmTo
Or
48%
3
Ph
-2
Ra
-3
Fig. S1B. Co-variation between plant species traits in a principal component analysis (PCA).
Plant species are represented in three different colours (red for legumes, blue for other forbs
and green for grasses). Species functional traits are represented in black. The two orthogonal
axes explain respectively 48% and 25% of the variance. Trait abbreviations are: LDMC: leaf
dry matter content, LCC: leaf carbon content, P:LL: perimeter / leaf length ratio, LNC: leaf
nitrogen content, LA: leaf area , LT: leaf thickness, C:N: carbon / nitrogen ratio. Species
abbreviations are: Ae: Arrhenatherum eliatus, Am: Achillea millefolium, Be: Bromus
erectus, Bh: Bromus hordeaceus, Cj: Centaurea jacea, Ca: Convolvulus arvensis, Csp:
Crepis sp, Dg: Dactylis glomerata, Dc: Daucus carota, Er: Elitrigia repens, Esp: Erigeron
sp, Fa: Festuca arundinacea, Fr: Festuca rubra, Ga: Galium aparine, Gm: Galium mollugo,
Gr: Geranium rotundifolium, Gv: Galium verum, Lc: Lotus corniculatus, Lp: Lolium
perenne, Lv: Leucanthemun vulgare, Ms: Malva sylvestris, Or: Ononis repens, Pa: Poa
angustifolia, Pe: Picris echoides, Ph: Picris hieracioides, Pl: Plantago lanceolata, Pm:
Plantago major, Pp: Poa pratensis, Pr: Potentilla reptans, Pt: Poa trivialis, Pv: Prunella
vulgaris, Ra: Ranunculus acris, Re: Rumex acetosela, Rf: Rubus fruticosus, Sj: Senecio
jacobaea, Sp : Salvia pratensis, Tc: Trifolium campestre, To : Tarxacum officinalis, Tp:
Trifolium pretense, Tr: Trifolium repens, Vo: Verbena officinalis, Vs: Vicia sativa