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

Mezzomo P., Leong J.V., , Pokorny V., Jorge L..R.,  Volfova T., Kozel P., Vodrazka P.,Seifert C. L.,  Aurová K., Moos M., Engström M.T., Salminen J.P.,  Volf M. (2025) Effects of pronounced seasonal turnover and intraspecific variation in leaf traits on specialization of insect herbivores associated with six Salicaceae hosts. Oecologia 207 : article number: 34.
DOI: 10.1007/s00442-025-05672-w

Leong J., Matos Maravi P. F., Núñez R., Nunes R., Liang W., Braby M.F., Doleck T., Aduse-Poku K., Inayoshi Y., Hsu Y.-F., Wahlberg N., Peggie D., et al., Kawahara A.Y., Pierce N., Lohman D. (2025) Around the World in 26 Million Years: Diversification and Biogeography of Pantropical Grass-Yellow Eurema Butterflies (Pieridae: Coliadinae). Journal of Biogeography Early View : DOI: 10.1111/jbi.15107

Aubona G., Mezzomo P., Sedio B.E., Staab M.,Volf M. (2024) Neighbourhood effects on herbivory damage and chemical profiles in short-rotation coppice willows and their ybrids,  Phytochemistry, 228, 114249, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phytochem.2024.114249

Ogutcen E., de Lima Ferreira P., Wagner N.D., Marinček P., Leong J.V., Aubona G., Cavender-Bares J., Michálek J., Schroeder L., Sedio B.E., Vašut R.J.,  Volf M., (2024) Phylogenetic insights into the Salicaceae: The evolution of willows and beyond. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 108161,  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2024.108161
Mezzomo P., Leong J.V., Vodrážka P., Moos M., Jorge L.R., Volfová T., Michálek J., de L. Ferreira P., Kozel P., Brian E. Sedio B.E., Volf M., (2024)  Variation in induced responses in volatile and non-volatile metabolites among six willow species: Do willow species share responses to herbivory? Phytochemistry, 114222, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phytochem.2024.114222

Marinček P., Léveillé-Bourret É. , Heiduk F., Leong J.V , Bailleul S.M., Volf M., . Wagner N.D. (2024) **Challenge accepted: Evolutionary lineages versus taxonomic classification of North American shrub willows (Salix)**. the American Journal of Botany, https://doi.org/10.1002/ajb2.16361

Leong J.V., Mezzomo P., Kozel P., Volfová T., de Lima Ferreira P., Seifert C.L., Butterill P.T., Freiberga I., Michálek J., Matos-Maraví P., Weinhold A., Engström M.T., Salminen J-P., Segar S.T., Sedio B.E.,  Volf M. (2024) Effects of individual traits vs. trait syndromes on assemblages of various herbivore guilds associated with central European Salix. Oecologia, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11164786.

Xiao X., Jorge L.R., Volf M., Moos M., Gélin U., Finnie S., Freiberga I., Jancuchova‐Laskova J. , Weiss M., Novotny V., Sam K. (2024) **The effect of drought‐induced leaf traits on Ficus leaf palatability is species specific**. Ecosphere 15 - 5, e483,
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4831a

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