Oak-insect herbivore interactions along a temperature and precipitation gradient

Leckey, Erin; Smith, Dena M.; Fornash, Katherine F.

doi:10.1016/j.actao.2014.08.001

Cited by 36 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 83 publications

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“…This result may be indicative of physiological trade‐offs in the allocation of resources to defence traits or changes in leaf quality with relatively greater water stress possibly resulting from the variation in soil depths found in the Garry oak ecosystem. Our findings contrast the results of other studies, such as that by Leckey et al (), in which a positive relationship between precipitation and the extent of leaf damage was found for four species of either deciduous or evergreen oak. The negative relationship we observed between insect abundance and mean summer precipitation, could indicate reduced insect population growth in response to water limitation.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Climate and leaf traits, not latitude, explain variation in plant–herbivore interactions across a species' range

Loughnan

Williams

2018

Journal of Ecology

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Spatial variation in abiotic and biotic factors creates local contexts that influence the intensity of plant–herbivore interactions. Some previous studies have accounted for the complexity of these interactions with latitudinal clines, while the absence of such clines in many other systems suggests other, often unknown, local community factors may instead explain the variation in herbivory across populations. We investigated plant–herbivore interactions across the entire range of a long‐lived tree (Quercus garryana), evaluating the relative importance of climate, latitude, population size, and insect feeding guilds in determining leaf phenotype and the extent and variation in insect herbivory. In this ecosystem, rain shadows create a nonlinear relationship between climate and latitude, allowing us to disentangle the effects of environmental factors. By performing similar analyses on trees grown in a common garden, we were able to assess the relative importance of environmental factors to leaf defence traits and herbivory. Total herbivory varied significantly among populations, and was best explained by variation in spring precipitation, leaf traits, and tree population size, but not latitude. The relative importance of each of these factors changed over the growing season and with insect feeding guild. Conversely, damage in the common garden did not vary among trees from different origins when grown in a constant environment, leading us to believe variation in damage in natural populations is more likely the result of the local environments. Leaf traits (trichome density and specific leaf area) varied significantly among populations, but neither showed an effect of latitude. Variation in both traits was best explained by tree size, and seasonal temperatures or precipitation. We found no variation in insect diversity among field populations, but abundance varied with mean summer precipitation and population size. Synthesis. Seasonal precipitation consistently explained the geographical variation in the extent of herbivory to Q. garryana, while latitude and winter temperatures, factors that are commonly associated with latitudinal gradients in the intensity of species interactions, did not. Our findings highlight the importance of local climates and functional traits in shaping biotic interactions and intraspecific variation in plant–insect interactions across large spatial scales.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Climate and leaf traits, not latitude, explain variation in plant–herbivore interactions across a species' range

Loughnan

Williams

2018

Journal of Ecology

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“…Other studies that have investigated the role of precipitation on herbivory of individual host plants have also reported mixed results and concluded that its impact depends on feeding guild (Garibaldi et al, ; Leckey, Smith, Nufio, & Fornash, ). The results of three meta‐analyses are likewise mixed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactive effects of climate and nutrient enrichment on patterns of herbivory by different feeding guilds in mangrove forests

Feller

Ball

Ellis

et al. 2017

Global Ecol Biogeogr

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Aim Global warming and eutrophication are major threats to coastal environments worldwide. As a result of differences between temperate and tropical ecosystems in nutrient availability, nitrogen (N):phosphorus (P) coupling and carbon retention, primary productivity and biotic interactions in the tropics are predicted to have stronger responses to increased nutrients than in temperate ecosystems. Habitats that occur across broad climatic ranges, such as mangrove forests, provide an opportunity to test this hypothesis by investigating the responses of herbivores to nutrient enrichment in temperate versus tropical latitudes on the same species. Location Australia and New Zealand. Time period Fertilization experiments were established at Port Douglas and Cape Cleveland in October 2000; Batemans Bay and Waikopua in August 2001; Whangapoua in January 2003; Tinchi Tamba in September 2005; and Garalia in October 2007. Herbivory was measured in 2009. Major taxa studied Insect leaf miners; insect and fungal leaf gallers. Methods We used seven fertilization experiments in Australia and New Zealand across 20° of latitude to determine how increased nutrients affected herbivory and diversity of leaf miners and gallers of the mangrove Avicennia marina. Individual trees were fertilized annually with one of three treatments (Control, +N, +P); herbivory was measured in 2009. Results Fertilization did not significantly affect herbivory or herbivore diversity. Leaf N:P, latitude and rainfall contributed significantly to herbivory, accounting for > 56% of the variation. Latitude, temperature, %P and salinity differentiated herbivory by feeding guild in the tropical versus subtropical and temperate latitudes. The effect of N fertilization on folivory differed across climatic regions; relative to Control trees, N‐fertilized trees in temperate areas had greater folivory than in tropical and subtropical latitudes. Species richness for leaf miners and gallers was correlated with latitude, with more species in subtropical and tropical latitudes than in temperate latitudes. The abundance of galls and mines differed by location, but differences were not correlated with latitude. Main conclusions Results indicate that latitude and nutrients may have had an interactive effect on herbivory and herbivore diversity of A. marina. However, the strength of the interactions varied by climatic region and was not the same for all groups of herbivores.

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“…Previous examinations of temperature and humidity (measured by water stress, rainfall or soil moisture) as factors affecting abundance of eriophyoid galls led to variable results with ambiguous linkage to climate [13, 18, 19]. For example, no correlations were found between the occurrence of the birch-galling eriophyoid mites and precipitation or temperature, except for relation of felt galls to rainfall [19].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In particular, invertebrates feeding within plant tissues (stem/root borers, leaf miners and gall-makers) not only can manipulate the quality of plant tissues for their own benefit, but also are protected by their hosts from direct impacts of abiotic environments, to which externally feeding defoliators are exposed directly. As a result, endophagous species may differ in their responses to biotic and abiotic factors from externally feeding defoliators [12, 13]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In tropical and temperate climates gall-making insects were found to have higher population densities in xeric habitats than in mesic habitats [14]. On the other hand, the incidence of galling on oak leaves in California increased with an increase in precipitation [13]. Thus, it is likely that geographical patterns in woody plant damage imposed by gall-forming herbivores are primarily driven by factors other than temperature, in particular by precipitation and humidity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Two Birch Species Demonstrate Opposite Latitudinal Patterns in Infestation by Gall-Making Mites in Northern Europe

et al. 2016

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Latitudinal patterns in herbivory, i.e. variations in plant losses to animals with latitude, are generally explained by temperature gradients. However, earlier studies suggest that geographical variation in abundance and diversity of gall-makers may be driven by precipitation rather than by temperature. To test the above hypothesis, we examined communities of eriophyoid mites (Acari: Eriophyoidea) on leaves of Betula pendula and B. pubescens in boreal forests in Northern Europe. We sampled ten sites for each of five latitudinal gradients from 2008–2011, counted galls of six morphological types and identified mites extracted from these galls. DNA analysis revealed cryptic species within two of six morphologically defined mite species, and these cryptic species induced different types of galls. When data from all types of galls and from two birch species were pooled, the percentage of galled leaves did not change with latitude. However, we discovered pronounced variation in latitudinal changes between birch species. Infestation by eriophyoid mites increased towards the north in B. pendula and decreased in B. pubescens, while diversity of galls decreased towards the north in B. pendula and did not change in B. pubescens. The percentage of galled leaves did not differ among geographical gradients and study years, but was 20% lower in late summer relative to early summer, indicating premature abscission of infested leaves. Our data suggest that precipitation has little effect on abundance and diversity of eriophyoid mites, and that climate warming may impose opposite effects on infestation of two birch species by galling mites, favouring B. pendula near the northern tree limit.

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Oak-insect herbivore interactions along a temperature and precipitation gradient

Cited by 36 publications

References 83 publications

Climate and leaf traits, not latitude, explain variation in plant–herbivore interactions across a species' range

Climate and leaf traits, not latitude, explain variation in plant–herbivore interactions across a species' range

Interactive effects of climate and nutrient enrichment on patterns of herbivory by different feeding guilds in mangrove forests

Two Birch Species Demonstrate Opposite Latitudinal Patterns in Infestation by Gall-Making Mites in Northern Europe

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