| Literature DB >> 28725372 |
Tone Birkemoe1, Saskia Bergmann1, Toril E Hasle1, Kari Klanderud1.
Abstract
Climate warming is predicted to affect species and trophic interactions worldwide, and alpine ecosystems are expected to be especially sensitive to changes. In this study, we used two ongoing climate warming (open-top chambers) experiments at Finse, southern Norway, to examine whether warming had an effect on herbivory by leaf-chewing insects in an alpine Dryas heath community. We recorded feeding marks on the most common vascular plant species in warmed and control plots at two experimental sites at different elevations and carried out a brief inventory of insect herbivores. Experimental warming increased herbivory on Dryas octopetala and Bistorta vivipara. Dryas octopetala also experienced increased herbivory at the lower and warmer site, indicating an overall positive effect of warming, whereas B. vivipara experienced an increased herbivory at the colder and higher site indicating a mixed effect of warming. The Lepidoptera Zygaena exulans and Sympistis nigrita were the two most common leaf-chewing insects in the Dryas heath. Based on the observed patterns of herbivory, the insects life cycles and feeding preferences, we argue that Z. exulans is the most important herbivore on B. vivipara, and S. nigrita the most important herbivore on D. octopetala. We conclude that if the degree of insect herbivory increases in a warmer world, as suggested by this study and others, complex interactions between plants, insects, and site-specific conditions make it hard to predict overall effects on plant communities.Entities:
Keywords: Alpine; Bistorta vivipara; Dryas octopetala; biotic interactions; climate change; insect herbivory
Year: 2016 PMID: 28725372 PMCID: PMC5513215 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.2398
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Ecol Evol ISSN: 2045-7758 Impact factor: 2.912
ANOVA analysis with feeding index (number of feeding marks/% cover of species) on Dryas octopetala and Bistorta vivipara as response variables explained by site, treatment and the interaction term
| Early summer | Late summer | ||||
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| Site (Low–High) | 1 |
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| Treatment (OTC–Control) | 1 | − |
| − |
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| Site × Treatment | 1 | −0.05 | 0.9640 | − |
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| Site (Low–High) | 1 | − |
| − |
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| Treatment (OTC–Control) | 1 | − |
| − |
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| Site × Treatment | 1 |
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| 1.07 | 0.2906 |
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Data from early and late summer are analyzed separately. Significant (P < 0.05) effects are in bold. All response variables were log‐transformed prior to analysis.
Figure 1Herbivory on Dryas octopetala in control and open‐top chamber plots expressed as a feeding index (number of feeding marks/%cover of D. octopetala) at a low and a high‐elevation site recorded in early and late summer in an alpine Dryas heath at Finse, Norway.
Figure 2Herbivory on Bistorta vivipara in control and open‐top chamber plots expressed as a feeding index (number of feeding marks/%cover of B. vivipara) at a high and a low‐elevation site recorded in early and late summer in an alpine Dryas heath at Finse, Norway.
ANCOVA results with mean percent of each Dryas octopetala or Bistorta vivipara leaf removed by insect herbivores per plot as response variables explained by site, treatment, and the percent cover of each of these plant species within the plots
| Early summer | Late summer | ||||
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| df | t‐ratio |
| t‐ratio |
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| Site (Low–High) | 1 | 1.49 | 0.1468 | −0.04 | 0.9661 |
| Treatment (Control–OTC) | 1 | −0.21 | 0.8342 | −1.41 | 0.1699 |
| Site × Treatment | 1 | −0.44 | 0.6640 | 0.39 | 0.7023 |
| % | 1 | 0.37 | 0.7154 | 0.54 | 0.5916 |
| % | 1 | 0.05 | 0.6183 | −0.88 | 0.3858 |
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| Site (Low–High) | 1 | 0.16 | 0.8744 | −1.93 | 0.0614 |
| Treatment (Control–OTC) | 1 | − |
| − |
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| Site × Treatment | 1 | 0.91 | 0.3719 | 1.10 | 0.2786 |
| % | 1 | 0.13 | 0.8936 | −0.74 | 0.4656 |
| % | 1 | −0.55 | 0.5854 | −0.46 | 0.6477 |
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Significant (P < 0.05) effects are in bold. Percent leaf removed was log‐transformed in the analysis of B. vivipara in early summer.
Figure 3Percentage of each Bistorta vivipara leaf eaten by insect herbivores in control and open‐top chamber plots at a low and a high‐elevation site in an alpine Dryas heath at Finse, Norway.
Lepidoptera larvae caught in five pitfall traps or observed in control and open‐top chamber plots at the low and high‐elevation sites at Mt. Sandalsnuten, Finse, Norway. The shading indicates occurrence of different species or species groups in time