Variability in leaf traits,insect herbivory and herbivore performance within and among individuals of four broad-leaved tree species |
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| Authors: | Haike Ruhnke Martin Schädler Stefan Klotz Diethart Matthies Roland Brandl |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Community Ecology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Halle, Germany;2. Unit of Plant Ecology, Department of Biology, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany;3. Unit of Animal Ecology, Department of Biology, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany;1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Campus Box 334, Boulder, CO 80309-0260, USA;2. Department of Botany, University of Hawai?i at Mānoa, 3190 Maile Way, Room 101 Honolulu, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA;3. Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 70-275 Ciudad Universitaria, UNAM 04510 México City D.F., Mexico;1. Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia;2. School of Biological Sciences, Plymouth University, Plymouth, Devon PL4 8AA, United Kingdom;3. SRUC Crop and Soil Systems Research Group, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, United Kingdom;4. York Environment and Sustainability Institute, Department of Biology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, United Kingdom;5. The James Hutton Institute, Dundee, DD2 5DA, United Kingdom;6. Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland;7. Department of Crop Sciences, Agricultural Entomology, Georg-August University, Grisebachstrasse 6, 37077 Göttingen, Germany;8. Dahlem Centre of Plant Sciences, Freie Universitaet Berlin, Berlin, Germany;9. Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, 3013 Bern, Switzerland;1. Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98115, USA;1. Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros – Unimontes, Campus Darcy Ribeiro, 39401-089 Montes Claros, Minas Gerais, Brazil;2. Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas/Universidade de Brasília-UnB, 70910-900 Brasília, DF, Brazil |
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| Abstract: | Individual plants may vary in their suitability as hosts for insect herbivores. The adaptive deme formation hypothesis predicts that this variability will lead to the fine-scale adaptation of herbivorous insects to host individuals. We studied individual and temporal variation in the quality of leaves of the tree species ash, lime, common oak, and sycamore in the field as food for herbivores. We determined herbivore attack and leaf consumption and performance of the generalist caterpillars of Spodoptera littoralis in the laboratory. We further assessed the concentrations of carbon, nitrogen and water in the leaves.All measures of leaf tissue quality varied among and within individuals for all tree species. The level of herbivory differed among the tree individuals in lime, oak and sycamore, but not in ash. Within host individuals, differences in herbivory between the upper and lower crown layer varied in direction and magnitude depending on tree species. In feeding experiments, herbivore performance also varied among and within tree individuals. However, variation in palatability was not consistently related to the leaf traits measured or to herbivory levels in the field. The ranking of individuals with respect to the quality of leaf tissue for herbivorous insects varied between years in lime and oak. Thus, trees of both species might present moving targets for herbivores which prevents fine-scale adaptations. In contrast, among individuals of ash and sycamore the pattern of insect performance remained constant over 2 years. These species may be more suitable hosts for the formation of adapted demes in herbivores. |
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