What feeds onQuercus ilexL.? A biogeographical approach to studying trophic interactions in a Mediterranean keystone species

Abstract

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Interactive effects of tree species composition and water availability on growth and direct and indirect defences in Quercus ilex

“…Across its distribution range, a wide array of specialist and generalist insect herbivores commonly feed on this species, including leaf chewers, miners and skeletonizers (Southwood et al 2005, Ruiz-Carbayo et al 2017, Hernández-Agüero et al 2022. In response to these attacks, Q. ilex produces a wide variety of secondary metabolites in leaves that potentially act as direct or indirect defences against biotic and abiotic stressors, including phenolic compounds (Moreira et al 2019b(Moreira et al , 2020 and VOCs (Holzinger et al 2000).…”

Spatial analysis to inform the mitigation hierarchy

“…When using human pressure data, it is important to be mindful of the traditional actions of indigenous cultures (e.g., hunting, harvesting tree resources) which are unlikely to be the major cause of pressure in a landscape. Additionally, there are some high biodiversity ecosystems that have evolved for thousands of years with human intervention, such as Mediterranean cork oak and holm oak savannahs and woodlands (Bugalho et al, 2011; Hernández‐Agüero et al, 2022). Focus should instead be placed on the human land uses that result in significant biophysical disturbance to natural habitats, such as large‐scale land conversion, industrial activity, or infrastructure development.…”

Launching insectphylo.org; a new hub facilitating construction and use of synthesis molecular phylogenies of insects

“…Phylogenetic frameworks comprise diverse and nuanced information, which are regularly applicable to near‐term global challenges: Insect community composition under tree extinction undergoes phylogenetic structural changes more nuanced than revealed by species richness alone (Wang et al, 2019); Phylogenetic distance between pairs of insect species contributes to likelihood of their co‐occurrence (Wang et al, 2022); Traits defining ecological responses often show phylogenetic conservation and thus enhanced predictive capabilities are enabled where using phylogenetic instead of taxonomic groups (Carew et al, 2011); Evolutionary distinctive but species‐poor biodiversity components are likely to be missed where phylogeny is not taken into account in conservation (Nogueira et al, 2019), and phylogenetic structuring of resources impacts decisions such as specialization in interacting species (König et al, 2022). The public availability of species‐comprehensive phylogenies clearly facilitates such studies (Hernández‐Agüero et al, 2022; Tomczyk et al, 2022; Vancaester & Blaxter, 2022), though there can be difficulties in obtaining phylogenies for studies of regional insect species pools (Stork, 2018).…”

“…phylogenetic instead of taxonomic groups (Carew et al, 2011); Evolutionary distinctive but species-poor biodiversity components are likely to be missed where phylogeny is not taken into account in conservation (Nogueira et al, 2019), and phylogenetic structuring of resources impacts decisions such as specialization in interacting species (König et al, 2022). The public availability of species-comprehensive phylogenies clearly facilitates such studies (Hernández-Agüero et al, 2022;Tomczyk et al, 2022;Vancaester & Blaxter, 2022), though there can be difficulties in obtaining phylogenies for studies of regional insect species pools (Stork, 2018).…”