ROA: Comparative Plant-Herbivore-Enemy Interactions in a Monophyletic Group of Six Sawfly Species

这项研究的目的是促进生态 从喂养类型的经验模式出发的理论 在六种食草叶蜂中， 理解模式与不同的 物种与宿主植物的关系，以及自然 敌人，以及由此产生的人口动态。 图案 包括对植物资源的特异性梯度 从一种高度特异性的刺叶蜂到一种更普遍的 食叶叶蜂 14个假设涉及以下方面： 植物内变异、植物基因型、 植物的年龄，植物的种类，除了 诱导植物防御的相对重要性， 竞争，种群稳定性，天敌作用 和三个营养水平的相互作用，以及分布和 叶蜂的定殖能力。 方法将采用场 盆栽杨柳的观察和实验研究 调查的生活史特征的问题， 物种，物种的分布和丰富度， 雌性产卵偏好与 随后的幼虫性能，叶蜂的定殖能力 及其寄生蜂，以及诱导植物防御的作用。 这项研究旨在通过使用一种强有力的 六种叶蜂单系类群的比较研究 从种群动态稳定的物种 到那些更容易爆发的。 机械的理解 这些植物-食草动物-天敌的许多特征之间的联系 相互作用很可能会推动生态理论的发展 关于这种系统，可能应用于 农业和林业系统。

The objective of this research is to advance ecological theory by starting from an empirical pattern of feeding types among six sawfly herbivore species, and developing a mechanistic understanding of how the pattern relates to differences among species in their relationships with host plants, and natural enemies, and their resultant population dynamics. The pattern involves a gradient of specificity in response to plant resources from a highly specific shoot-galling sawfly to a more generalized leaf-feeding sawfly. Fourteen hypotheses address aspects of specificity in terms of within-plant variation, plant genotype, plan stree, plant age, and among plant species, in addition to the relative importance of induced plant defenses, herbivore competition, population stability, the role of natural enemies and three trophic-level interactions, and the distribution and colonization ability of the sawflies. Methods will employ field observations and experimental studies using potted willow plants to investigate questions on life history characteristics of the species, the distribution and abundance of species, the relationships between female preference in oviposition and consequent larval performance, the colonizing ability of sawflies and their parasitoids, and the role of induced plant defenses. This research is aimed at advancing knowledge by using a strongly comparative approach on a monophyletic group of six sawfly species which range from species with stable population dynamics to those that are more eruptive. The mechanistic understanding of linkage among many traits of these plant-herbivore-enemy interactions is likely to yield an advance in ecological theory relating to such systems, with probable application to agricultural and forest systems.