Early instar mortality of a forest pest caterpillar: which mortality sources increase during an outbreak crash?

Caron, Anne-Sophie; Jarry, Joshua Joseph; Despland, Emma

doi:10.1111/eea.13131

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 40 publications

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“…Defoliation, hereby meaning the loss of leaves, by insect herbivores not only slows tree growth, but it can also promote nutrient cycling and accelerate succession [4]. Caterpillars are prey, and their population explosions affect trophic webs [5,6]. Ecosystem effects of insect outbreaks can happen through various direct and indirect mechanisms: leaf removal increases light and temperature on the forest floor; exploding caterpillar populations increase prey availability for many predators; and frass, insect corpses and dropped foliage constitute nutrient transfers from trees to soils [5,[7][8][9][10][11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forest Tent Caterpillar Outbreaks Drive Change in Ant Communities in Boreal Forests

Caron

Koudji

Handa

et al. 2023

Forests

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Insect outbreaks are major drivers of natural disturbances in forest ecosystems. Outbreaks can have both direct and indirect effects on the composition of soil arthropod communities through canopy opening, nutrient addition and predator-prey interactions. In this study, we aimed to understand the effects of forest tent caterpillar (Malacosoma disstria; FTC) outbreaks through cascading effects on ant communities in both temperate and boreal forests in Canada. Pitfall traps and Berlese funnels were used to compare the ant communities, as well as the surrounding arthropod communities, between control and outbreak sites in boreal and temperate forests (in Quebec, Canada). Using the Sørensen dissimilarity index, we determined the alpha and beta diversity of the ant community. Other arthropods collected in the traps were counted to evaluate the richness and abundance of potential prey for the ants and other potential predators of the FTC. We used an indicator species analysis to examine the species associated with sites defoliated by the outbreak. In the boreal forest, we found that FTC outbreaks caused decreases in species richness and increases in the evenness of ant communities in defoliated sites. In the boreal forest sites, species composition varied significantly between control and outbreak sites. This pattern was driven in part by the presence of other predators. A similar, but weaker pattern was observed in the temperate forest. We saw no changes in the beta diversity in the boreal forest, but did see a significant decrease in the temperate forest between the outbreak sites and the control sites. Ant species in the boreal forest tended to exhibit a more marked preference for either control or previously defoliated sites than species in the temperate forest. Our study showed that disturbances such as insect outbreaks can drive changes in the ant community. While we saw small effects of outbreaks, manipulation experiments using resource addition could help us validate the mechanisms behind these relationships.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forest Tent Caterpillar Outbreaks Drive Change in Ant Communities in Boreal Forests

Caron

Koudji

Handa

et al. 2023

Forests

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Forest Tent Caterpillar Outbreaks Drive Change in Ant Community in Boreal Forests

Caron¹,

Gagon-Koudji²,

Handa³

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Insect outbreaks are major drivers of natural disturbances in forest ecosystems. Outbreaks can have both direct and indirect effects on the composition of soil arthropod communities, through canopy opening, nutrient addition and predator-prey interactions. In this study, we aim to understand the effects of forest tent caterpillar (Malacosoma disstria; FTC) outbreaks on ant communities in both temperate and boreal forests in Canada. Using pitfall traps and Berlese funnels, we compared the ant communities as well as the surrounding arthropod communities between control and outbreak sites in boreal andboreal and temperate forests (in Québec, Canada). Using the Sørensen dissimilarity index, we determined the alpha and beta diversity of the ant community. Other arthropods collected in the traps were counted to evaluate the richness and abundance of potential prey for the ants and other potential predators of the FTC. We used an indicator species analysis to examine the species associated with sites defoliated by the outbreak. In the boreal forest, we found that FTC outbreaks caused decreases in species richness and increases in the evenness of ant communities in defoliated sites. In the boreal forest sites, species composition varied significantly between control and outbreak sites. This pattern was driven by the presence of other predators. We also saw no changes in beta diversity in the boreal forest but did see a significant decrease in the temperate forest between the outbreak sites and the control sites. A similar, but weaker pattern was observed in the temperate forest. Ant species in the boreal forest tended to exhibit a more marked preference for either control or previously defoliated sites than species in the temperate forest. Our study showed that disturbances like insect outbreaks can drive changes in the ant community. While we saw small effects of outbreaks, manipulation experiments using resource addition could help us validate the mechanisms behind these relationships.

show abstract

Early instar mortality of a forest pest caterpillar: which mortality sources increase during an outbreak crash?

Cited by 2 publications

References 40 publications

Forest Tent Caterpillar Outbreaks Drive Change in Ant Communities in Boreal Forests

Forest Tent Caterpillar Outbreaks Drive Change in Ant Communities in Boreal Forests

Forest Tent Caterpillar Outbreaks Drive Change in Ant Community in Boreal Forests

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