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opencc-zeroDec 2021View details →

A dataset for pollinator diversity and their interactions with plants in the Pacific NorthWest

Pollinator populations have declined substantially in recent years. The resulting loss in pollination services has both ecological and economic consequences including reductions in plant diversity and crop production and lower food security. Datasets that identify pollinators and their plant hosts are of utmost importance in order to understand the main causes of pollinator declines. Here we present a dataset, which contains 67,954 individual pollinator records. The data has been collected across the Pacific Northwest, primarily focused in British Columbia (Canada), with 182 individual sites over 11 years, between 2005 and 2017. This dataset comprises multiple studies that aimed to collect information on pollinator abundance, diversity and their interactions with plants. Overall, the dataset includes 937 morphospecies (of which 482 were identified to species) of pollinators across 105 families, including data for bees, wasps, butterflies, moths and flies. We also present information on the interactions of these species, with 473 species of plants. This data set is released for non-commercial use only. Credits should be given to this paper (i.e., proper citation).

opencc-zeroJul 2022View details →

Supplementary material 3 from: Swenson SJ, Eichler L, Hörren T, Kolter A, Köthe S, Lehmann GUC, Meinel G, Mühlethaler R, Sorg M, Gemeinholzer B (2022) The potential of metabarcoding plant components of Malaise trap samples to enhance knowledge of plant-insect interactions. Metabarcoding and Metagenomics 6: e85213. https://doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.6.85213

Supplementary material 3 from: Swenson SJ, Eichler L, Hörren T, Kolter A, Köthe S, Lehmann GUC, Meinel G, Mühlethaler R, Sorg M, Gemeinholzer B (2022) The potential of metabarcoding plant components of Malaise trap samples to enhance knowledge of plant-insect interactions. Metabarcoding and Metagenomics 6: e85213. https://doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.6.85213

opencc-zeroJul 2022View details →

Raw data: Soil microbes drive aboveground plant–pathogen–insect interactions

Plants interact with a large diversity of microbes and insects, both below and above ground. While studies have shown that belowground microbes affect the performance of plants and aboveground organisms, we lack insights into how belowground microbial communities may shape interactions between aboveground pathogens and insects. We investigated how soil microbiomes and aboveground organisms affect plant growth and development, and whether differences in soil microbiomes influence interactions between aboveground organisms. We conducted a growth-chamber experiment with oak seedlings (Quercus robur) growing in three soils with similar abiotic soil properties but with distinct natural soil microbiomes. Seedlings were subjected to single or dual attack by powdery mildew (Erysiphe alphitoides) and aphids (Tuberculatus annulatus), either in the presence or absence of prior attack by a free-feeding caterpillar (Phalera bucephala). Soil microbiomes were associated with differences in seedling height, and seedlings with multiple aboveground organisms had more but smaller leaves than healthy seedlings. The soil microbiome affected the severity of powdery mildew infection, and mediated the impact of co-occurring aboveground organisms on aphid population size. Our study highlights that plant performance is affected by natural soil microbiomes as well as aboveground organisms, and that natural soil microbiomes can affect interactions between pathogens and insects. These findings are important to understand species interactions in natural systems, as well as for practical applications, such as manipulation of soil microbiomes to manage agricultural pests and diseases.

opencc-zeroAug 2022View details →

Habitat loss increases seasonal interaction rewiring in plant-pollinator networks

Understanding the flexibility of interactions and network rewiring (i.e. reassembly of interactions due to partner-switching) is necessary to comprehend how future anthropogenic changes will affect interspecific interactions and the functioning of communities. A higher rewiring could be expected in more disturbed landscapes because these landscapes contain fewer and more generalist species with more homogeneous traits. We sampled pollination interactions in 20 wild Olea europaea communities along a disturbance gradient to evaluate the hypothesis that the loss of natural habitats increases seasonal (within-year) interaction rewiring in plant-pollinator communities, influencing their functional structure. For this, we particularly tested whether rewiring frequency was negatively related to the extent of natural habitats surrounding the communities, whether interaction rewiring influenced the static structure of networks (nestedness, network specialization –H2'–), and whether a high generalization (low specialization –d'–) and abundance of species in communities made them more prone to rewiring. We show that habitat loss increased seasonal interaction rewiring in networks. Changes in rewiring were related to changes in the cumulative static structure of pollination networks. Nestedness decreased and network specialization (H2') also tended to decrease as interaction rewiring increased, suggesting an indirect effect of habitat loss on the robustness of networks through their dynamics. As expected, generalist insect and plant species were more prone to rewiring. However, flower abundance had different effects on the rewiring probability of plant species depending on the extent of habitat loss, with abundant species rewiring more in disturbed communities and rewiring less in more natural communities. Likely, this is related to the context-dependent foraging behaviour of pollinators, which may switch to more abundant species if the cost of searching for trait-matching resources is high in disturbed habitats. Our work shows the role of partner-switching in generalist species to adapt to new conditions. It also highlights the importance of going beyond general network metrics to understand the underlying processes of community-level interaction assembly, and predict and anticipate the effects of anthropogenic disturbances on pollination services.

Figure 4 in An exploratory study of bumble bee (Bombus) phenologies and plant interactions in agricultural landscapes in central Georgia, USA

Figure 4. Captures of Bombus a-f-p group averaged by week at three sites near Athens, Georgia, USA. HF = Durham Horticulture Farm in Watkinsville, GA; WG = Woodland Gardens in Athens, GA; SV = Spring Valley EcoFarms in Athens, GA. No surveys were conducted during the week of 28 June due to a lack of available person-hours.

Figure 3 in An exploratory study of bumble bee (Bombus) phenologies and plant interactions in agricultural landscapes in central Georgia, USA

Figure 3. Bombus impatiens captures averaged by week at three sites near Athens, Georgia, USA. HF = Durham Horticulture Farm in Watkinsville, GA; WG = Woodland Gardens in Athens, GA; SV = Spring Valley EcoFarms in Athens, GA. No surveys were conducted during the weeks of 28 June or 6 September due to a lack of available person-hours, or the weeks of 16–30 August due to inclement weather and/or insufficient number of bees observed. Average captures for B. impatiens are underrepresented during the following weeks due to limited supplies: 14 June, 12 July, 2 and 9 August, 9 August, 13 September, 4 October.

Figure 1 in An exploratory study of bumble bee (Bombus) phenologies and plant interactions in agricultural landscapes in central Georgia, USA

Figure 1. Bombus bimaculatus captures averaged per week at three sites near Athens, Georgia, USA. HF = Durham Horticulture Farm in Watkinsville, GA; WG = Woodland Gardens in Athens, GA; SV = Spring Valley EcoFarms in Athens, GA. This species was not captured during the week of 21 June. No surveys were conducted during the week of 28 June due to a lack of available personhours.

Figure 6 in An exploratory study of bumble bee (Bombus) phenologies and plant interactions in agricultural landscapes in central Georgia, USA

Figure 6. Average weekly captures of Bombus bimaculatus castes across three sites in 2010 near Athens, Georgia, USA. No individuals of this species were captured during the week of 21 June. No surveys were conducted during the week of 28 June due to a lack of available person-hours.

Figure 9 in An exploratory study of bumble bee (Bombus) phenologies and plant interactions in agricultural landscapes in central Georgia, USA

Figure 9. Average captures per week of Bombus griseocollis castes across three sites in 2010 near Athens, Georgia, USA. No surveys were conducted during the week of 28 June due to a lack of available person-hours. No individuals of this species were captured during the week of 26 July.

Figure 8 in An exploratory study of bumble bee (Bombus) phenologies and plant interactions in agricultural landscapes in central Georgia, USA

Figure 8. Caste percentages of total Bombus captures across three sites near Athens, Georgia, USA, in 2010. Bb = Bombus bimaculatus, Bg = B. griseocollis and Bi = B. impatiens. Q = queen, W = worker and M = male castes. Total captures = 1956; Bb total captures = 228, Bg total captures = 529, Bi total captures = 1058.

Figure 5 in An exploratory study of bumble bee (Bombus) phenologies and plant interactions in agricultural landscapes in central Georgia, USA

Figure 5. Average weekly captures of Bombus bimaculatus (Bb), B. griseocollis (Bg), B. impatiens (Bi) and B. a-f-p group (Bafp) across three sites in 2010 near Athens, Georgia, USA. No surveys were conducted during the weeks of 28 June or 6 September due to a lack of available person-hours, or the weeks of 16–30 August due to inclement weather and/or an insufficient number of bees observed at all sites. No B. bimaculatus individuals were captured during the week of 21 June. No B. griseocollis individuals were captured during the week of 26 July. Weekly average captures for B. impatiens are underrepresented during the following weeks due to insufficient supplies: 14 June, 12 July, 2 August, 9 August, 13 September, 4 October.

Figure 7 in An exploratory study of bumble bee (Bombus) phenologies and plant interactions in agricultural landscapes in central Georgia, USA

Figure 7. Caste percentages of total captures from each Bombus species across three sites near Athens, Georgia, USA, in 2010. Bb = Bombus bimaculatus, Bg = B. griseocollis and Bi = B. impatiens. Q = queen, W = worker and M = male castes. Bb total captures = 228, Bg total captures = 529, Bi total captures = 1058.

Figure 10 in An exploratory study of bumble bee (Bombus) phenologies and plant interactions in agricultural landscapes in central Georgia, USA

Figure 10. Average captures per week of Bombus impatiens castes across three sites in 2010 near Athens, Georgia, USA. No individuals of this species were captured during the weeks of 12 April, 19 April, 17 May, 20 September, 27 September. No surveys were conducted during the week of 28 June or 6 September due to a lack of available person-hours, or the 16–30 weeks of August due to inclement weather or lack of sufficient bumble bee observations. Average captures are underrepresented during the following weeks due to limited supplies: 14 June, 12 July, 2 August, 9 August, 13 September, 4 October.

Figure 11 in An exploratory study of bumble bee (Bombus) phenologies and plant interactions in agricultural landscapes in central Georgia, USA

Figure 11. Weekly average captures of Bombus bimaculatus (Bb), B. griseocollis (Bg), B. impatiens (Bi), and B. a-f-p group (Bombus auricomus-pensylvanicus-fraternus, Bafp) across two sites in 2011 near Athens, Georgia, USA. Only one site could be surveyed during the weeks of 22 March–5 April, so total captures are shown for those two weeks. No surveys were conducted during the weeks of 30 May– 13 June due to a lack of available person-hours; or during the weeks of 9–23 May due to inclement weather and/or lack of sufficient bumble bee observations at both sites. Bombus were absent from both sites during the weeks of 23 June–29 September. Surveys were not conducted during the week of 3 October, but the date is included for comparison with Figure 5.

opencc-zeroAug 2022View details →

Data from: Nitrogen availability and plant-plant interactions drive leaf silicon concentration in wheat genotypes

Estimating plasticity of leaf silicon (Si) in response to abiotic and biotic factors underpins our comprehension of plant defences and stress resistance in natural and agroecosystems. However, how nitrogen (N) addition and intraspecific plant-plant interactions affect Si accumulation remains unclear. We grew 19 durum wheat genotypes (Triticum turgidum ssp. durum) in pots, either alone, or in intra- or intergenotypic cultures of two individuals, and with or without N. Aboveground biomass, plant height and leaf [Si] were quantified at the beginning of the flowering stage. Nitrogen addition decreased leaf [Si] for most genotypes, proportionally to the biomass increase. Si plasticity to plant-plant interactions varied significantly among genotypes, with both increases and decreases in leaf [Si] when mixed with a neighbour, regardless of the mixture type (intra-/intergenotype). Besides, increased leaf [Si] in response to plant-plant interactions was associated with increased plant height. Our results suggest the occurrence of both facilitation and competition for Si uptake from the rhizosphere in wheat mixtures. Future research should identify which leaf and root traits characterize facilitating neighbours for Si acquisition. We also show that Si could be involved in height gain in response to intraspecific competition, possibly for increasing light capture. This important finding opens up new research directions on Si and plant-plant interactions in both natural ecosystems and agroecosystems. More generally, our results stress the need to explore leaf Si plasticity in responses to both abiotic and biotic factors to understand plant stress resistance.

opencc-zeroOct 2022View details →

Plant herbivore interactions: Combined effect of ground water level, root vole grazing and sedge silicification

1. Accumulation of silica (Si) by plants can driven by (1) herbivore pressure (and therefore, plant-herbivore interactions) (2) geo-hydrological cycles or (3) a combination of (1) and (2), with (1-3) possibly affecting Si concentration with a 1-year delay. 2. To identify the relative significance of (1-3) we analysed the concentration of Si in fibrous tussock sedge (Carex appropinquata), the population density of the root vole (Microtus oeconomus) and the ground water level, over 11 years. 3. The largest influence of autumn Si concentration in leaves (Sileaf) was the level of the current year's ground water table, which was positive and accounted for 13.3% of its variance. The previous year's vole population density was weakly positively correlated with Sileaf and alone explained 9.5% of its variance. 4. The only variable found to have a positive, significant effect on autumn Si concentration in rhizomes (Sirhiz) was the current year spring water level explaining as much as 60.9% of its variance. 5. We conclude that the changes in Si concentration in fibrous tussock sedge are predominantly driven by hydrology, with vole population dynamics being secondary. 6. Our results provide only partial support for the existence of plant-herbivore interactions, as we did not detect the significant effects of Si tussock concentration on the vole density dynamics. This was mainly due to low level of silification of sedges, which was insufficient to impinge herbivores. 7. Future studies on plant-herbivore interactions should therefore aim at disentangling whether anti-herbivore protection is dependent on threshold values of herbivore population dynamics. Furthermore, studies on Si accumulation should focus on the effect of water-mediated Si availability.

embargoedcc-by-4.0May 2024View details →

Data related to article: Shrubs exhibit competitive interactions with herbaceous plants and shape community assemblage and functional composition in alpine western Himalaya

To understand the interaction between dominant shrubs and herbacous communities in the alpine region of western Himalaya, a field study was conducted along the elevation gradient (3500-5000 masl). During the field survey, we have collected population data, plant functional trait data and soil physico-chemical  data from shrub undercanopy and  adjacent open habitats.  Relative Interaction Index and L0g ratio were calculated using the population data. Further, plant functional traits data and soil physicochemical data were utilised to understand the functional comoposition and resource availability occuring in the contrasting habitats.

opencc-zeroJun 2024View details →

Plant neighbors differentially alter a focal species' biotic interactions through changes to resource allocation

Plant resource allocation strategies are thought to be largely a consequence of changing abiotic conditions and evolutionary history. However, biotic interactions also influence how a plant allocates resources. As a result, plants mediate indirect interactions between organisms above- and belowground through resource allocation. Neighboring plants can influence plant fitness directly through competition for resources, and indirectly by altering associated community interactions (associational effects). Given the importance of community interactions for plant success, and the known ability for plant neighbors to change these interactions, the goal of this "pandemic project" was to separate inter- and intraspecific plant associations, above- and belowground, to understand how different plant neighbors alter plant resource allocation, and if this in turn alters biotic interactions. We specifically investigated associational effects on herbivory and soil microbial community interactions. To do so, we established a common garden experiment, manipulating plant neighbors and extent of interactions (aboveground only versus above- and belowground interactions, using customized pot types), and measured changes to a focal plant and its biotic interactions over two growing seasons. We found evidence of both neighbor effects and pot type, showing that neighbor interactions affect a focal plant through both above- and belowground processes, and how the focal plant is affected depends on neighbor identity. Though neighbors did not directly alter herbivory or most soil microbial interactions, they did alter the relationship between belowground microbial communities and plant function. Resource allocation responses were reduced with time, showing the importance of extending experiments beyond a single growing season, and is an important consideration when making predictions about plant responses to changing conditions. This study contributes to a growing body of work showing how the community context affects the above- and belowground interactions of a plant through plant resource allocation strategies.

opencc-by-4.0May 2024View details →

Strong pairwise interactions do not drive interactions in a plant leaf associated microbial community

Illumina amplicon sequencing of 16S and ITS2 regions of the SynCom on solid medium was performed for the investigation of the community composition in vitro (raw data: Metadata_amplicon_sequencing_for_metabolomics_syncom_only). In planta amplicon sequencing was used to analyse the effect of pseudobactin on the SynCom composition on plant leaves(raw data: Metadata_amplicon_sequencing_Pseudobactin_on_plant.xlsx).  Correlation networks were created based on co-abundances of epiphytic microbiome members of the A. thaliana leaf. Data used for the analysis was collected by amplicon sequencing of 16S, ITS and 18S regions from A. thaliana plants sampled around Tübingen (Mahmoudi et al., 2023). A workflow on how the data was processed can be found in the readme file within the Microbial_Networks.zip file.