Plant-arthropod associations from the Lower Miocene of the Most Basin in northern Bohemia (Czech Republic)

今天，陆地植物和昆虫占地球生物多样性的大部分，几乎一半的昆虫物种是草食动物。因此，昆虫和植物有着共同的古老联想，可以追溯到现在超过3亿年。然而，对他们相互作用的调查在很大程度上仍处于起步阶段。有2400多株植物遗骸可供检查。这些损害的多样性被归类为所谓的“行会”或功能性摄食群体，为陆地生态系统的复杂性、结构和变化提供了突出的例子。该项目的主要目标是记录通过渐新世/中新世界线的昆虫食草性的变化，目的是了解导致观察到的主要因素。生态学和古生物学研究表明，温度、降水、叶片养分含量和花卉多样性都会影响昆虫的食草性。然而，植物与昆虫的相互作用是陆地生态系统的一个主要特征，在这段时间内并不为人所知。在欧洲，由于非洲板块与欧亚板块的碰撞，新近纪具有古地理重组的特点。除了全球气候变化外，构造发展和海平面变化也严重影响了欧亚大陆的气候。晚第三纪欧洲古植物群记录十分丰富多样，支持了对植物区系和植被发育的深刻认识。该项目将结合对晚中新世化石动植物相互作用和当代昆虫动物群的定量研究。将汇编一个所有化石痕迹的数据库，并根据古草食的多样性和强度对其进行分析。

Terrestrial plants and insects account for the majority of the Earth's biodiversity today, and almost half of insect species are herbivores. Thus, insects and plants share ancient associations that date back now for more than 300 million years. However, investigation of their interactions still stands largely at their beginning. More than 2400 plants remains are available for the examinations. The variety of these damages which are classified as socalled "guilds" or functional feeding-groups supplies an outstanding example of the complexity, the structure and the change of terrestrial ecosystems. The primary objective of the project is to document changes in insect herbivory through the Oligocene / Miocene boundary, with the aim of understanding the principal factors that caused the observations. Ecological and palaeontological studies indicate that temperature, precipitation, leaf nutrient content and floral diversity can influence insect herbivory. However, plant-insect interactions, a dominant feature of terrestrial ecosystems, are not well known during this interval. In Europe, the Neogene is characterized by palaeogeographic reorganization due to the collision of the African with the Eurasian plate. In addition to the global climatic changes, the tectonic development and sea level changes severely influenced the climate in Eurasia. The Neogene European palaeofloral record is very rich and diverse which support a profound large-scale understanding of the floristic and vegetational development. The project will combine quantitative studies of late Miocene fossil plant-animal interactions and contemporary insect faunas. A database of all fossil traces will be compiled and analysed in terms of the diversity and intensity of palaeo-herbivory.