| 1. |
- Cardoso Pereira, Cássio, et al.
(författare)
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Subtle structures with not-so-subtle functions : A data set of arthropod constructs and their host plants
- 2022
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Ingår i: Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0012-9658 .- 1939-9170. ; 103:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The construction of shelters on plants by arthropods might influence other organisms via changes in colonization, community richness, species composition, and functionality. Arthropods, including beetles, caterpillars, sawflies, spiders, and wasps often interact with host plants via the construction of shelters, building a variety of structures such as leaf ties, tents, rolls, and bags; leaf and stem galls, and hollowed out stems. Such constructs might have both an adaptive value in terms of protection (i.e., serve as shelters) but may also exert a strong influence on terrestrial community diversity in the engineered and neighboring hosts via colonization by secondary occupants. Although different traits of the host plant (e.g., physical, chemical, and architectural features) may affect the potential for ecosystem engineering by insects, such effects have been, to a certain degree, overlooked. Further analyses of how plant traits affect the occurrence of shelters may therefore enrich our understanding of the organizing principles of plant-based communities. This data set includes more than 1000 unique records of ecosystem engineering by arthropods, in the form of structures built on plants. All records have been published in the literature, and span both natural structures (91% of the records) and structures artificially created by researchers (9% of the records). The data were gathered between 1932 and 2021, across more than 50 countries and several ecosystems, ranging from polar to tropical zones. In addition to data on host plants and engineers, we aggregated data on the type of constructs and the identity of inquilines using these structures. This data set highlights the importance of these subtle structures for the organization of terrestrial arthropod communities, enabling hypotheses testing in ecological studies addressing ecosystem engineering and facilitation mediated by constructs. There are no copyright restrictions and please cite this paper when using the data in publications.
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| 2. |
- De Frenne, Pieter, et al.
(författare)
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An intraspecific application of the leaf-height-seed ecology strategy scheme to forest herbs along a latitudinal gradient
- 2011
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Ingår i: Ecography. - : Wiley. - 0906-7590 .- 1600-0587. ; 34:1, s. 132-140
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We measured LHS traits in 41 Anemone nemorosa and 44 Milium effusum populations along a 1900-2300 km latitudinal gradient from N France to N Sweden. We then applied multilevel models to identify the effects of regional (temperature, latitude) and local (soil fertility and acidity, overstorey canopy cover) environmental factors on LHS traits. Both species displayed a significant 4% increase in plant height with every degree northward shift (almost a two-fold plant height difference between the southernmost and northernmost populations). Neither seed mass nor SLA showed a significant latitudinal cline. Temperature had a large effect on the three LHS traits of Anemone. Latitude, canopy cover and soil nutrients were related to the SLA and plant height of Milium. None of the investigated variables appeared to be related to the seed mass of Milium. The variation in LHS traits indicates that the ecological strategy determined by the position of each population in this three-factor triangle is not constant along the latitudinal gradient. The significant increase in plant height suggests greater competitive abilities for both species in the northernmost populations. We also found that the studied environmental factors affected the LHS traits of the two species on various scales: spring-flowering Anemone was affected more by temperature, whereas early-summer flowering Milium was affected more by local and other latitude-related factors. Finally, previously reported cross-species correlations between LHS traits and latitude were generally unsupported by our within-species approach.
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| 3. |
- De Frenne, Pieter, et al.
(författare)
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Temperature effects on forest herbs assessed by warming and transplant experiments along a latitudinal gradient
- 2011
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Ingår i: Global Change Biology. - : Wiley. - 1354-1013 .- 1365-2486. ; 17:10, s. 3240-3253
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Slow-colonizing forest understorey plants are probably not able to rapidly adjust their distribution range following large-scale climate change. Therefore, the acclimation potential to climate change within their actual occupied habitats will likely be key for their short-and long-term persistence. We combined transplant experiments along a latitudinal gradient with open-top chambers to assess the effects of temperature on phenology, growth and reproductive performance of multiple populations of slow-colonizing understorey plants, using the spring flowering geophytic forb Anemone nemorosa and the early summer flowering grass Milium effusum as study species. In both species, emergence time and start of flowering clearly advanced with increasing temperatures. Vegetative growth (plant height, aboveground biomass) and reproductive success (seed mass, seed germination and germinable seed output) of A. nemorosa benefited from higher temperatures. Climate warming may thus increase future competitive ability and colonization rates of this species. Apart from the effects on phenology, growth and reproductive performance of M. effusum generally decreased when transplanted southwards (e. g., plant size and number of individuals decreased towards the south) and was probably more limited by light availability in the south. Specific leaf area of both species increased when transplanted southwards, but decreased with open-top chamber installation in A. nemorosa. In general, individuals of both species transplanted at the home site performed best, suggesting local adaptation. We conclude that contrasting understorey plants may display divergent plasticity in response to changing temperatures which may alter future understorey community dynamics.
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| 4. |
- De Frenne, Pieter, et al.
(författare)
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The use of open-top chambers in forests for evaluating warming effects on herbaceous understorey plants
- 2010
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Ingår i: Ecological research. - : Wiley. - 0912-3814 .- 1440-1703. ; 25:1, s. 163-171
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Open-top chambers (OTCs) are widely used experimental warming devices in open-field ecosystems such as tundra and alpine heath. However, knowledge of their performance in temperate deciduous forest ecosystems is largely lacking. The application of OTCs in forests might become important in the future since the effects of climate warming on growth, reproduction, and future distribution of understorey forest herbs have rarely been investigated. Therefore, polycarbonate OTCs covered with (OTCs+GF) and without permeable polypropylene GardenFleece (OTCs−GF) were installed in a temperate deciduous forest to create an experimental warming gradient. Short-term responses in phenology, growth, and reproduction of a model understorey forest herb (Anemone nemorosa L.) to OTC installation were determined. In a second growing season, an in-depth study of multiple abiotic conditions inside OTCs−GF was performed. Both OTCs+GF and OTCs−GF raised air and soil temperature in a realistic manner (ca. +0.4°C to +1.15°C), but OTCs−GF only in the leafless period (up to +1.5°C monthly average soil temperature). The early flowering forest herb A. nemorosa also showed a clear phenotypic response to OTC installation. Based on these facts and the large ecological drawbacks associated with OTCs+GF (mostly in connection with a higher relative air humidity and a lower light quantity) and very modest abiotic changes in OTCs−GF, we encourage the use of OTCs−GF in deciduous forest ecosystems for evaluating climate-warming effects on early flowering understorey forest herbs. There is also a potential to use this warming method on later flowering species, but this needs further research.
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| 5. |
- Romero, Gustavo Q., et al.
(författare)
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Climate variability and aridity modulate the role of leaf shelters for arthropods : A global experiment
- 2022
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Ingår i: Global Change Biology. - : Wiley. - 1354-1013 .- 1365-2486. ; 28:11, s. 3694-3710
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Current climate change is disrupting biotic interactions and eroding biodiversity worldwide. However, species sensitive to aridity, high temperatures, and climate variability might find shelter in microclimatic refuges, such as leaf rolls built by arthropods. To explore how the importance of leaf shelters for terrestrial arthropods changes with latitude, elevation, and climate, we conducted a distributed experiment comparing arthropods in leaf rolls versus control leaves across 52 sites along an 11,790 km latitudinal gradient. We then probed the impact of short- versus long-term climatic impacts on roll use, by comparing the relative impact of conditions during the experiment versus average, baseline conditions at the site. Leaf shelters supported larger organisms and higher arthropod biomass and species diversity than non-rolled control leaves. However, the magnitude of the leaf rolls' effect differed between long- and short-term climate conditions, metrics (species richness, biomass, and body size), and trophic groups (predators vs. herbivores). The effect of leaf rolls on predator richness was influenced only by baseline climate, increasing in magnitude in regions experiencing increased long-term aridity, regardless of latitude, elevation, and weather during the experiment. This suggests that shelter use by predators may be innate, and thus, driven by natural selection. In contrast, the effect of leaf rolls on predator biomass and predator body size decreased with increasing temperature, and increased with increasing precipitation, respectively, during the experiment. The magnitude of shelter usage by herbivores increased with the abundance of predators and decreased with increasing temperature during the experiment. Taken together, these results highlight that leaf roll use may have both proximal and ultimate causes. Projected increases in climate variability and aridity are, therefore, likely to increase the importance of biotic refugia in mitigating the effects of climate change on species persistence.
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