Laboratory of Evolutionary Ecology

New paper by Jing

12/23/2021

We have published a paper that shows how phytochemical beta-diversity affects insect specialization!
Quantity and specialisation matter: Effects of quantitative and qualitative variation in willow chemistry on resource preference in leaf-chewing insects

Phytochemical diversity plays important roles in plant-Insect interactions, but specific roles of its various dimensions are poorly known. We linked phytochemical variation in willow salicylates (Salicaceae-specific metabolites) and flavonoids (widespread metabolites) to a standardised distance-based specialisation index (DSI*) in three orders of leaf-chewing insects: sawfly larvae, beetles, and caterpillars. Our results suggest that β-diversity in plant chemistry has differential effects on insect herbivores depending on their order and chemical β-diversity measurement used.

Chrysomela populi - one of the highly specialized herbivores studied in this paper.

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New Publications

Volf M., Leong J.V., de Lima Ferreira P., Volfová T., Kozel P., Matos-Maraví P., Hörandl E., Wagner N.D., Luntamo N., Salminen J.-P., Segar S.T., Sedio B.E. (2023) Contrasting levels of β‐diversity and underlying phylogenetic trends indicate different paths to chemical diversity in highland and lowland willow species, Ecology Letters, 26: 1599-1571.,DOI: 10.1111/ele.14273

Mezzomo, P., Weinhold, A., Aurová, K., Jorge, L. R., Kozel, P., Michálek, J., Nováková, N., Seifert, C. L., Volfová, T., Engström, M., Salminen, J.-P., Sedio, B. E., & Volf, M. (2023). Leaf volatile and nonvolatile metabolites show different levels of specificity in response to herbivory. Ecology and Evolution, 13, e10123. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10123

Volf M, Volfová T, Seifert CL, Ludwig A, Engelmann RA, Jorge LR, Richter R, Schedl A, Weinhold A, Wirth C, van Dam NM. A mosaic of induced and non-induced branches promotes variation in leaf traits, predation and insect herbivore assemblages in canopy trees. Ecology Letters. 2021. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13943

Leong JV, Jorge LR, Seifert CL, Volf M. Quantity and specialisation matter: Effects of quantitative and qualitative variation in willow chemistry on resource preference in leaf-chewing insects. Insect Conservation and Diversity. 2021. https://doi.org/10.1111/icad.12559

Volf M, Weinhold A, Seifert CL, Holicová T, Uthe H, Alander E, Richter R, Salminen JP, Wirth C, van Dam NM. Branch-localized induction promotes efficacy of volatile defences and herbivore predation in trees. Journal of Chemical Ecology. 2021. 47:99-111. DOI: 10.1007/s10886-020-01232-z

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