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opencc-zeroDec 2014View details →

Data from: Community- weighted mean plant traits predict small scale distribution of insect root herbivore abundance

Small scale distribution of insect root herbivores may promote plant species diversity by creating patches of different herbivore pressure. However, determinants of small scale distribution of insect root herbivores, and impact of land use intensity on their small scale distribution are largely unknown. We sampled insect root herbivores and measured vegetation parameters and soil water content along transects in grasslands of different management intensity in three regions in Germany. We calculated community-weighted mean plant traits to test whether the functional plant community composition determines the small scale distribution of insect root herbivores. To analyze spatial patterns in plant species and trait composition and insect root herbivore abundance we computed Mantel correlograms. Insect root herbivores mainly comprised click beetle (Coleoptera, Elateridae) larvae (43%) in the investigated grasslands. Total insect root herbivore numbers were positively related to community-weighted mean traits indicating high plant growth rates and biomass (specific leaf area, reproductive- and vegetative plant height), and negatively related to plant traits indicating poor tissue quality (leaf C/N ratio). Generalist Elaterid larvae, when analyzed independently, were also positively related to high plant growth rates and furthermore to root dry mass, but were not related to tissue quality. Insect root herbivore numbers were not related to plant cover, plant species richness and soil water content. Plant species composition and to a lesser extent plant trait composition displayed spatial autocorrelation, which was not influenced by land use intensity. Insect root herbivore abundance was not spatially autocorrelated. We conclude that in semi-natural grasslands with a high share of generalist insect root herbivores, insect root herbivores affiliate with large, fast growing plants, presumably because of availability of high quantities of food. Affiliation of insect root herbivores with large, fast growing plants may counteract dominance of those species, thus promoting plant diversity.

opencc-zeroDec 2013View details →

Data from: Land-use history alters contemporary insect herbivore community composition and decouples plant-herbivore relationships

1. Past land use can create altered soil conditions and plant communities that persist for decades, although the effects of these altered conditions on consumers are rarely investigated. 2. Using a large-scale field study at 36 sites in longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) woodlands, we examined whether historic agricultural land use leads to differences in the abundance and community composition of insect herbivores (grasshoppers, families Acrididae and Tettigoniidae). 3. We measured the cover of six plant functional groups and several environmental variables to determine whether historic agricultural land use affects the relationships between plant cover or environmental conditions and grasshopper assemblages. 4. Land-use history had taxa-specific effects and interacted with herbaceous plant cover to alter grasshopper abundances, leading to significant changes in community composition. Abundance of most grasshopper taxa increased with herbaceous cover in woodlands with no history of agriculture, but there was no relationship in post-agricultural woodlands. We also found that grasshopper abundance was negatively correlated with leaf litter cover. Soil hardness was greater in post-agricultural sites (i.e. more compacted) and was associated with grasshopper community composition. Both herbaceous cover and leaf litter cover are influenced by fire frequency, suggesting a potential indirect role of fire on grasshopper assemblages. 5. Our results demonstrate that historic land use may create persistent differences in the composition of grasshopper assemblages, while contemporary disturbances (e.g. prescribed fire) may be important for determining the abundance of grasshoppers, largely through the effect of fire on plants and leaf litter. Therefore, our results suggest that changes in the contemporary management regimes (e.g. increasing prescribed fire) may not be sufficient to shift the structure of grasshopper communities in post-agricultural sites towards communities in non-agricultural habitats. Rather, repairing degraded soil conditions and restoring plant communities are likely necessary for restoring grasshopper assemblages in post-agricultural woodlands.

opencc-by-4.0Dec 2016View details →

Safety of a topical insect repellent (picaridin) during community mass use for malaria control in rural Cambodia

Raw data table (sheet 2) and description of variable names (sheet 1) of the perceived side effects data from the mass use of picaridin in rural Cambodia, associated with table 5 and figure 4 in the manuscript.

opencc-zeroNov 2021View details →

Community phenology of insects on oak – local differentiation along a climatic gradient

Climate change is advancing the onset of phenological events, with the rate of advance varying among species and trophic levels. In addition, local populations of the same species may show genetic differences in their response to seasonal cues. If populations of interacting species differ in their response, then climate change may result in geographically varying shifts in the community-level distribution of interaction strength. We explored the magnitude of trophic and species level responses to temperature in a tritrophic system comprising pedunculate oak, insect herbivores and their associated parasitoids. We sampled local realisations of this community at five sites along a transect spanning fifteen degrees of latitude. Samples from each trophic level at each site were exposed to the same set of five climatic regimes during overwintering in climate chambers. We then recorded the number of days and degree-days required for oak acorns to develop and insects to emerge. In terms of dates of events, phenology differed among populations. In terms of degree days, we found that for two species pairs, the heat sum required to develop in spring differed by an additional ~ 500 degree days between trophic levels when overwintering at the highest temperature. For three species, within-population variation in the number of degree-days required for emergence was higher at warmer temperatures. Our findings suggest that changing temperatures can modify interactions within a community by altering the relative phenology of interacting species, and that some interactions are more vulnerable than others to a shift in temperature. The geographic variation in the phenological response of a species suggests that there is a genetic component in determining the phenology of local populations. Such local variation blended with interspecific differences in responses makes it complex to understand how communities will respond to warmer temperatures.

Supplementary material 6 from: Ceballos-Escalera A, Richards J, Arias MB, Inward DJG, Vogler AP (2022) Metabarcoding of insect-associated fungal communities: a comparison of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and large-subunit (LSU) rRNA markers. MycoKeys 88: 1-33. https://doi.org/10.3897/mycokeys.88.77106

Table S2. Class level identification of OTUs showing the number of OTUs produced with ITS2 and LSU and the proportion of the total OTU set on the rarefied data

Supplementary material 5 from: Ceballos-Escalera A, Richards J, Arias MB, Inward DJG, Vogler AP (2022) Metabarcoding of insect-associated fungal communities: a comparison of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and large-subunit (LSU) rRNA markers. MycoKeys 88: 1-33. https://doi.org/10.3897/mycokeys.88.77106

Table S1. Accession numbers corresponding with the reference sequences used to build the phylogenetic trees

Supplementary material 3 from: Ceballos-Escalera A, Richards J, Arias MB, Inward DJG, Vogler AP (2022) Metabarcoding of insect-associated fungal communities: a comparison of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and large-subunit (LSU) rRNA markers. MycoKeys 88: 1-33. https://doi.org/10.3897/mycokeys.88.77106

Figure S3. Maximum-likelihood tree constructed in IQ-Tree2 based on three-gene (LSU D1-D2, SSU, ITS2) reference sequence alignments and OTUs for both markers (clustering thresholds: 99% LSU D1-D2 and 98% ITS2)

Supplementary material 2 from: Ceballos-Escalera A, Richards J, Arias MB, Inward DJG, Vogler AP (2022) Metabarcoding of insect-associated fungal communities: a comparison of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and large-subunit (LSU) rRNA markers. MycoKeys 88: 1-33. https://doi.org/10.3897/mycokeys.88.77106

Figure S2. Species accumulation curves of the OTUs generated from the ITS (panel right) and LSU (panel left) metabarcodes

opencc-zeroOct 2022View details →

Microbial community dynamics during decomposition of insect exuviae and frass in soil

As the mass-rearing industry of insects for food and feed is expected to grow, residual streams associated with this activity will become increasingly available. Before these residues can be used as organic amendments, more knowledge on the decomposition and dynamics of the involved microbial communities is needed. This study investigated decomposition, N-mineralization, and fungal/bacterial community composition during 16 weeks of incubation of exuviae and frass of black soldier fly, mealworm, and house cricket in arable soil. Decomposition of insect residues in litterbags was rapid, with more than 50% weight loss in 2 weeks. Accumulation of mineral-N from insect materials distributed in the soil was also highest during the first 2 weeks, but it was more profound for exuviae than their frass counterparts. Soil amendment with insect residues enriched soil microbial inhabitants belonging to Gammaproteobacteria, Bacilli, Actinobacteria, and Mortierellomycetes. Comparison of microbial community composition in soil amended with sterilized and nonsterilized mealworm exuviae indicated that the presence of microbial propagules in the exuviae had no significant influence on the composition of bacterial decomposers and a minor, but significant impact on fungal community composition. Overall, our results reveal a good prospect of using insect residual streams as soil amendment.

opencc-by-4.0May 2017View details →

Supplementary material 1 from: Picanço A, Gil A, Rigal F, Borges PAV (2017) Pollination services mapping and economic valuation from insect communities: a case study in the Azores (Terceira Island). Nature Conservation 18: 1-25. https://doi.org/10.3897/natureconservation.18.11523

Supporting information : Explanation note: Description of the landscape disturbance index methodological approach according to Cardoso et al. (2013).

opencc-zeroJun 2021View details →

Complex multi-predator effects on demographic habitat selection and community assembly in colonizing insects

Running the gauntlet of predators consumes critical time and energy resources, as all species are vulnerable to one or, typically, more predators at some life stage. Prey employ a vast array of mechanisms to avoid predation, and predators, likewise, come in a bewildering variety. Thus, defensive adaptations are rarely one size fits all. Considerable work has addressed multi-predator consumptive effects, but we now know that non-consumptive effects of predators can dramatically impact individuals, (meta)populations, and (meta)communities. However, little is known regarding the community-wide dynamics of non-consumptive effects generated by multiple predators. Predator avoidance by choosing a patch that is free of a particular predator or predators can be the most effective strategy if conditions at colonization are a reliable predictor of absence, which is often true for fish in freshwater systems. We experimentally manipulated composition of the predator assemblage in aquatic mesocosms in a substitutive design, with zero, one, two, or three caged predatory fish species (one benthic, one pelagic, and one surface fish) at constant density and biomass, and assayed responses of naturally colonizing aquatic insects. We addressed three related questions; first, how do members of a diverse assemblage of colonizing aquatic insects respond to this variation in species and species combinations, second, do individual species (and higher taxa), respond differently to single vs multiple predator species (species richness), and third how do any responses to fish species and species combinations, and effects on species richness, translate into community-wide changes in the composition of colonists. Prey had varied responses to specific predators or combinations of predators, resulting in distinct community composition across treatments and higher β-diversity with predators. Prey showed emergent multi-predator effects, where certain species only responded to predator species combinations, but not to any individual predator, and stronger effects of multiple predator vs single predator treatments, despite strong responses to individual predators in many taxa. Habitat selection effects can range from the individual to the metacommunity, and the dynamics of habitat selection in response to predators is a complex function of predator identity, density, richness, species composition, and patch spatial context.

opencc-zeroJul 2021View details →

Raw data: Local habitat factors and spatial connectivity jointly shape an urban insect community

As the world becomes more and more urbanized, it is increasingly important to understand the impacts of urban landscapes on biodiversity. Urbanization can change local habitat factors and decrease connectivity among local habitats, with major impacts on the structure of natural food webs. However, most studies have focused on single species, or compared rural to urban habitats, which do not inform us on how to design and manage cities to optimize biodiversity. To understand the local and spatial drivers of ecological communities within urban landscapes, we assessed the relative impact of local habitat factors (sunlight exposure and leaf litter) and spatial connectivity on an oak-associated herbivore community within an urban landscape. From the local habitat factors, leaf litter but not sunlight exposure was related to herbivore species richness, with leaf litter contributing to the maintenance of high species richness on isolated trees. Guilds and species differed strongly in their response to local habitat factors and connectivity, resulting in predictable variation in insect community composition among urban oaks. Taken together, our study shows an interactive effect of local and spatial factors on species richness and species composition within an urban context, with guild- and species-specific life histories determining the response of insects to urban landscapes. To maintain biodiversity in the urban landscape, preserving a dense network of local habitats is essential. Moreover, allowing leaf litter to accumulate can be a simple, cost-effective conservation management practice.

opennotspecifiedMar 2016View details →

Figure 1 in Structure of insect community in the fungus Inonotus radiatus in riparian boreal forests

Figure 1. Map showing the five lakes (black dots) from which Inonotus radiatus basidiomes were sampled in Uppland, Sweden.

opennotspecifiedMar 2016View details →

Figure 2 in Structure of insect community in the fungus Inonotus radiatus in riparian boreal forests

Figure 2. Accumulation curves for species richness (and 95% confidence intervals) for species that use Inonotus radiatus as breeding habitat. Solid lines represent northern and dotted lines southern shores.

opennotspecifiedMar 2016View details →

Figure 3 in Structure of insect community in the fungus Inonotus radiatus in riparian boreal forests

Figure 3. Species accumulation curves (and 95% confidence intervals) in Inonotus radiatus samples of different decay stages. The curves for fresh decay stages (n = 16 samples) and advanced decay stages (n = 36) have been extrapolated to a common sample size of 49 samples with both living and dead basidiomes (i.e. mixed). Only taxa that were considered to breed in the basidiomes were included.

Figure 4 in Structure and composition of the insect community associated with flower buds and inflorescences of Byrsonima verbascifolia (Malpighiaceae)

Figure 4. Similarity of the abundance of floral visitors collected in the two flowering stages of B. verbascifolia. BUD = flower buds; IFL: inflorescences. (From ten plants sampled during 2 hours: 1 h in the morning and 1 h in the afternoon).

Figure 3 in Structure and composition of the insect community associated with flower buds and inflorescences of Byrsonima verbascifolia (Malpighiaceae)

Figure 3. Abundance, richness and diversity of flower visitors and ants collected in B. verbascifolia. BUD = flower buds; IFL: inflorescences. Error bars represent SE. (From ten plants sampled during 2 hours: 1 h in the morning and 1 h in the afternoon).

Figure 2 in Structure and composition of the insect community associated with flower buds and inflorescences of Byrsonima verbascifolia (Malpighiaceae)

Figure 2. (a) Venn diagram for specimens of flower visitors collected in B. verbascifolia. (b) Venn diagram for ant specimens collected in B. verbascifolia BUD = flower buds; IFL: inflorescences. (From ten plants sampled during 2 hours: 1 h in the morning and 1 h in the afternoon).

Figure 1 in Structure and composition of the insect community associated with flower buds and inflorescences of Byrsonima verbascifolia (Malpighiaceae)

Figure 1. Phenology of B. verbascifolia during 12 months. The number of leaves, flower buds, inflorescences and infructescences.

Figure 5 in Structure and composition of the insect community associated with flower buds and inflorescences of Byrsonima verbascifolia (Malpighiaceae)

Figure 5. Similarity of the abundance of ants collected in the two flowering stages of B. verbascifolia. BUD = flower buds; IFL: inflorescences. (From ten plants sampled during 2 hours: 1 h in the morning and 1 h in the afternoon).