Plant size, latitude, and phylogeny explain within-population variability in herbivory

THE HERBIVORY VARIABILITY NETWORK; ROBINSON, M.L. ; HAHN, P.G. ; INOUYE, B.D.; WHITEHEAD, S.R.; SASAL, Y.; QUINTERO, C.

Science

American Association for the Advancement of Science

Lugar: Washington DC; Año: 2023 vol. 382 p. 679 - 683

Interactionsbetween plants and herbivores are central in most ecosystems, but theirstrength is highly variable. The amount of variability within a system isthought to influence most aspects of plant-herbivore biology, from ecologicalstability to plant defense evolution. Our understanding of what influencesvariability, however, is limited by sparse data. We collected standardizedsurveys of herbivory for 503 plant species at 790 sites across 116° oflatitude. With these data, we show that within-population variability inherbivory increases with latitude, decreases with plant size, and isphylogenetically structured. Differences in the magnitude of variability arethus central to how plant-herbivore biology varies across macroscale gradients.We argue that increased focus on interaction variability will advanceunderstanding of patterns of life on Earth.