The ecology of predispersal insect herbivory on tree reproductive structures in natural forest ecosystems
- PMID: 29082661
- DOI: 10.1111/1744-7917.12549
The ecology of predispersal insect herbivory on tree reproductive structures in natural forest ecosystems
Abstract
Plant-insect interactions are key model systems to assess how some species affect the distribution, the abundance, and the evolution of others. Tree reproductive structures represent a critical resource for many insect species, which can be likely drivers of demography, spatial distribution, and trait diversification of plants. In this review, we present the ecological implications of predispersal herbivory on tree reproductive structures by insects (PIHR) in forest ecosystems. Both insect's and tree's perspectives are addressed with an emphasis on how spatiotemporal variation and unpredictability in seed availability can shape such particular plant-animal interactions. Reproductive structure insects show strong trophic specialization and guild diversification. Insects evolved host selection and spatiotemporal dispersal strategies in response to variable and unpredictable abundance of reproductive structures in both space and time. If PIHR patterns have been well documented in numerous systems, evidences of the subsequent demographic and evolutionary impacts on tree populations are still constrained by time-scale challenges of experimenting on such long-lived organisms, and modeling approaches of tree dynamics rarely consider PIHR when including biotic interactions in their processes. We suggest that spatially explicit and mechanistic approaches of the interactions between individual tree fecundity and insect dynamics will clarify predictions of the demogenetic implications of PIHR in tree populations. In a global change context, further experimental and theoretical contributions to the likelihood of life-cycle disruptions between plants and their specialized herbivores, and to how these changes may generate novel dynamic patterns in each partner of the interaction are increasingly critical.
Keywords: diapause; dispersal; forest dynamics; masting; plant-insect interactions; predispersal seed predation.
© 2017 Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Similar articles
-
Spatial and temporal patterns of a pulsed resource dynamically drive the distribution of specialist herbivores.Sci Rep. 2019 Nov 28;9(1):17787. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-54297-6. Sci Rep. 2019. PMID: 31780724 Free PMC article.
-
Assessing the consequences of global change for forest disturbance from herbivores and pathogens.Sci Total Environ. 2000 Nov 15;262(3):263-86. doi: 10.1016/s0048-9697(00)00528-3. Sci Total Environ. 2000. PMID: 11087032 Review.
-
Seed predation and climate impacts on reproductive variation in temperate forests of the southeastern USA.Oecologia. 2016 Apr;180(4):1223-34. doi: 10.1007/s00442-015-3537-6. Epub 2016 Jan 8. Oecologia. 2016. PMID: 26747267
-
Woody-plant ecosystems under climate change and air pollution-response consistencies across zonobiomes?Tree Physiol. 2017 Jun 1;37(6):706-732. doi: 10.1093/treephys/tpx009. Tree Physiol. 2017. PMID: 28338970
-
Tree Diversity and Forest Resistance to Insect Pests: Patterns, Mechanisms, and Prospects.Annu Rev Entomol. 2021 Jan 7;66:277-296. doi: 10.1146/annurev-ento-041720-075234. Epub 2020 Sep 9. Annu Rev Entomol. 2021. PMID: 32903046 Review.
Cited by
-
A systematic review of the direct and indirect effects of herbivory on plant reproduction mediated by pollination.PeerJ. 2020 Jun 8;8:e9049. doi: 10.7717/peerj.9049. eCollection 2020. PeerJ. 2020. PMID: 32551190 Free PMC article.
-
Spatial and temporal patterns of a pulsed resource dynamically drive the distribution of specialist herbivores.Sci Rep. 2019 Nov 28;9(1):17787. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-54297-6. Sci Rep. 2019. PMID: 31780724 Free PMC article.
Publication types
MeSH terms
Grants and funding
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources