Variation in the strength of local and regional determinants of herbivory across the Neotropics
Variation in the strength of local and regional determinants of herbivory across the Neotropics
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DOI：
10.1111/oik.10218
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发表时间：
2023-12-19
期刊：
影响因子：
3.4
通讯作者：
Dyer，Lee A.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Joy Massad，Tara;Rangel Nascimento，Andre;Dyer，Lee A.
昆虫食草性是一种重要的选择压力，对当地植物丰富度有重要贡献。由于草食是复杂的生态和进化过程的结果，如复杂的昆虫种群动态和植物抗草食防御的进化，因此很难在有意义的空间尺度上预测草食的变化。在目前的工作中，我们描述了一个物种丰富和丰富的热带属（Piper）在新热带地区跨越44°纬度的森林中的植物食草模式。我们模拟了地理、气候、资源可用性和胡椒物种丰富度对多面手和专门性食草的中位数、分散和偏度的影响。通过检查这些草食分布的多个组成部分，我们能够确定在分布的上端增加具有生物学意义的草食的因素（由偏度和分散表示）。我们观察到，相对于季节性森林，潮湿地区的草食性中位数增加了大约两倍，这与降水季节性在热带生态系统中形成相互作用多样性方面起着关键作用的假设相一致。纬度、季节性和最大胡椒丰富度等立地水平变量解释了局地尺度（样地水平）上胡椒同属植物组合比单一物种的正偏倚。资源可得性和多样性等在当地群落之间存在差异的预测因子，最好地解释了地点内食草动物的分布，抑制了跨纬度和气候的广泛模式，并证明了为什么食草动物梯度的概括一直难以捉摸。草食性种群均值、分布和偏度对非生物和生物因子的响应不同，说明需要仔细研究草食性分布及其对森林多样性的影响。
Insect herbivory can be an important selective pressure and contribute substantially to local plant richness. As herbivory is the result of numerous ecological and evolutionary processes, such as complex insect population dynamics and evolution of plant antiherbivore defenses, it has been difficult to predict variation in herbivory across meaningful spatial scales. In the present work, we characterize patterns of herbivory on plants in a species‐rich and abundant tropical genus (Piper) across forests spanning 44° of latitude in the Neotropics. We modeled the effects of geography, climate, resource availability, andPiperspecies richness on the median, dispersion, and skew of generalist and specialist herbivory. By examining these multiple components of the distribution of herbivory, we were able to determine factors that increase biologically meaningful herbivory at the upper ends of the distribution (indicated by skew and dispersion). We observed a roughly twofold increase in median herbivory in humid relative to seasonal forests, which aligns with the hypothesis that precipitation seasonality plays a critical role in shaping interaction diversity within tropical ecosystems. Site level variables such as latitude, seasonality, and maximumPiperrichness explained the positive skew in herbivory at the local scale (plot level) better for assemblages ofPipercongeners than for a single species. Predictors that varied between local communities, such as resource availability and diversity, best explained the distribution of herbivory within sites, dampening broad patterns across latitude and climate and demonstrating why generalizations about gradients in herbivory have been elusive. The estimated population means, dispersion, and skew of herbivory responded differently to abiotic and biotic factors, illustrating the need for careful studies to explore distributions of herbivory and their effects on forest diversity.