Spatial covariance of herbivorous and predatory guilds of forest canopy arthropods along a latitudinal gradient

Ondrej Mottl; Pavel Fibich; Petr Klimes; Martin Volf; Robert Tropek; Kristina Anderson-Teixeira; John Auga; Thomas Blair; Phil Butterill; Grace Carscallen; Erika Gonzalez-Akre; Aaron Goodman; Ondrej Kaman; Greg P.A. Lamarre; Martin Libra; Maria E. Losada; Markus Manumbor; Scott E. Miller; Kenneth Molem; Geoffrey Nichols; Nichola S. Plowman; Conor Redmond; Carlo L. Seifert; Jan Vrana; George D. Weiblen; Vojtech Novotny

doi:10.1111/ele.13579

Spatial covariance of herbivorous and predatory guilds of forest canopy arthropods along a latitudinal gradient

Ondrej Mottl, Pavel Fibich, Petr Klimes, Martin Volf, Robert Tropek, Kristina Anderson-Teixeira, John Auga, Thomas Blair, Phil Butterill, Grace Carscallen, Erika Gonzalez-Akre, Aaron Goodman, Ondrej Kaman, Greg P.A. Lamarre, Martin Libra, Maria E. Losada, Markus Manumbor, Scott E. Miller, Kenneth Molem, Geoffrey NicholsNichola S. Plowman, Conor Redmond, Carlo L. Seifert, Jan Vrana, George D. Weiblen, Vojtech Novotny

Plant and Microbial Biology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Letter › peer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

In arthropod community ecology, species richness studies tend to be prioritised over those investigating patterns of abundance. Consequently, the biotic and abiotic drivers of arboreal arthropod abundance are still relatively poorly known. In this cross-continental study, we employ a theoretical framework in order to examine patterns of covariance among herbivorous and predatory arthropod guilds. Leaf-chewing and leaf-mining herbivores, and predatory ants and spiders, were censused on ' 1000 trees in nine 0.1 ha forest plots. After controlling for tree size and season, we found no negative pairwise correlations between guild abundances per plot, suggestive of weak signals of both inter-guild competition and top-down regulation of herbivores by predators. Inter-guild interaction strengths did not vary with mean annual temperature, thus opposing the hypothesis that biotic interactions intensify towards the equator. We find evidence for the bottom-up limitation of arthropod abundances via resources and abiotic factors, rather than for competition and predation.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1499-1510
Number of pages	12
Journal	Ecology letters
Volume	23
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13579
State	Published - Oct 1 2020

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This study was funded by the Czech Science Foundation (19‐8126X) and European Research Council (669609).

Funding Information:
We thank the staff, interns, students, volunteers and local assistants of Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (USA); Ostrava University (CZE); and the New Guinea Binatang Research Centre (PNG). Namely, we thank Jaroslav Bla?ej, and Joe and Matthew Rhodes for allowing us to use their facilities or work on their property as well as for providing logistical support. We gratefully thank the communities of Wanang, Numba and Yawan for permission to use their land and for logistic support during the project. We also thank Katerina Sam for validation of temperature data.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Authors. Ecology Letters published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Keywords

Araneae
Formicidae
Lepidoptera
community ecology
competition
guilds
predation
spatial interactions

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Mottl, O., Fibich, P., Klimes, P., Volf, M., Tropek, R., Anderson-Teixeira, K., Auga, J., Blair, T., Butterill, P., Carscallen, G., Gonzalez-Akre, E., Goodman, A., Kaman, O., Lamarre, G. P. A., Libra, M., Losada, M. E., Manumbor, M., Miller, S. E., Molem, K., ... Novotny, V. (2020). Spatial covariance of herbivorous and predatory guilds of forest canopy arthropods along a latitudinal gradient. Ecology letters, 23(10), 1499-1510. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13579

Mottl, O, Fibich, P, Klimes, P, Volf, M, Tropek, R, Anderson-Teixeira, K, Auga, J, Blair, T, Butterill, P, Carscallen, G, Gonzalez-Akre, E, Goodman, A, Kaman, O, Lamarre, GPA, Libra, M, Losada, ME, Manumbor, M, Miller, SE, Molem, K, Nichols, G, Plowman, NS, Redmond, C, Seifert, CL, Vrana, J, Weiblen, GD & Novotny, V 2020, 'Spatial covariance of herbivorous and predatory guilds of forest canopy arthropods along a latitudinal gradient', Ecology letters, vol. 23, no. 10, pp. 1499-1510. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13579

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abstract = "In arthropod community ecology, species richness studies tend to be prioritised over those investigating patterns of abundance. Consequently, the biotic and abiotic drivers of arboreal arthropod abundance are still relatively poorly known. In this cross-continental study, we employ a theoretical framework in order to examine patterns of covariance among herbivorous and predatory arthropod guilds. Leaf-chewing and leaf-mining herbivores, and predatory ants and spiders, were censused on ' 1000 trees in nine 0.1 ha forest plots. After controlling for tree size and season, we found no negative pairwise correlations between guild abundances per plot, suggestive of weak signals of both inter-guild competition and top-down regulation of herbivores by predators. Inter-guild interaction strengths did not vary with mean annual temperature, thus opposing the hypothesis that biotic interactions intensify towards the equator. We find evidence for the bottom-up limitation of arthropod abundances via resources and abiotic factors, rather than for competition and predation.",

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note = "Funding Information: This study was funded by the Czech Science Foundation (19‐8126X) and European Research Council (669609). Funding Information: We thank the staff, interns, students, volunteers and local assistants of Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (USA); Ostrava University (CZE); and the New Guinea Binatang Research Centre (PNG). Namely, we thank Jaroslav Bla?ej, and Joe and Matthew Rhodes for allowing us to use their facilities or work on their property as well as for providing logistical support. We gratefully thank the communities of Wanang, Numba and Yawan for permission to use their land and for logistic support during the project. We also thank Katerina Sam for validation of temperature data. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 The Authors. Ecology Letters published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.",

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AU - Klimes, Petr

AU - Volf, Martin

AU - Tropek, Robert

AU - Anderson-Teixeira, Kristina

AU - Auga, John

AU - Blair, Thomas

AU - Butterill, Phil

AU - Carscallen, Grace

AU - Gonzalez-Akre, Erika

AU - Goodman, Aaron

AU - Kaman, Ondrej

AU - Lamarre, Greg P.A.

AU - Libra, Martin

AU - Losada, Maria E.

AU - Manumbor, Markus

AU - Miller, Scott E.

AU - Molem, Kenneth

AU - Nichols, Geoffrey

AU - Plowman, Nichola S.

AU - Redmond, Conor

AU - Seifert, Carlo L.

AU - Vrana, Jan

AU - Weiblen, George D.

AU - Novotny, Vojtech

N1 - Funding Information: This study was funded by the Czech Science Foundation (19‐8126X) and European Research Council (669609). Funding Information: We thank the staff, interns, students, volunteers and local assistants of Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (USA); Ostrava University (CZE); and the New Guinea Binatang Research Centre (PNG). Namely, we thank Jaroslav Bla?ej, and Joe and Matthew Rhodes for allowing us to use their facilities or work on their property as well as for providing logistical support. We gratefully thank the communities of Wanang, Numba and Yawan for permission to use their land and for logistic support during the project. We also thank Katerina Sam for validation of temperature data. Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The Authors. Ecology Letters published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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N2 - In arthropod community ecology, species richness studies tend to be prioritised over those investigating patterns of abundance. Consequently, the biotic and abiotic drivers of arboreal arthropod abundance are still relatively poorly known. In this cross-continental study, we employ a theoretical framework in order to examine patterns of covariance among herbivorous and predatory arthropod guilds. Leaf-chewing and leaf-mining herbivores, and predatory ants and spiders, were censused on ' 1000 trees in nine 0.1 ha forest plots. After controlling for tree size and season, we found no negative pairwise correlations between guild abundances per plot, suggestive of weak signals of both inter-guild competition and top-down regulation of herbivores by predators. Inter-guild interaction strengths did not vary with mean annual temperature, thus opposing the hypothesis that biotic interactions intensify towards the equator. We find evidence for the bottom-up limitation of arthropod abundances via resources and abiotic factors, rather than for competition and predation.

AB - In arthropod community ecology, species richness studies tend to be prioritised over those investigating patterns of abundance. Consequently, the biotic and abiotic drivers of arboreal arthropod abundance are still relatively poorly known. In this cross-continental study, we employ a theoretical framework in order to examine patterns of covariance among herbivorous and predatory arthropod guilds. Leaf-chewing and leaf-mining herbivores, and predatory ants and spiders, were censused on ' 1000 trees in nine 0.1 ha forest plots. After controlling for tree size and season, we found no negative pairwise correlations between guild abundances per plot, suggestive of weak signals of both inter-guild competition and top-down regulation of herbivores by predators. Inter-guild interaction strengths did not vary with mean annual temperature, thus opposing the hypothesis that biotic interactions intensify towards the equator. We find evidence for the bottom-up limitation of arthropod abundances via resources and abiotic factors, rather than for competition and predation.

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KW - Lepidoptera

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Spatial covariance of herbivorous and predatory guilds of forest canopy arthropods along a latitudinal gradient

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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