Background invertebrate herbivory on dwarf birch (Betula glandulosa-nana complex) increases with temperature and precipitation across the tundra biome
Chronic, low intensity herbivory by invertebrates, termed background herbivory, has been understudied in tundra, yet its impacts are likely to increase in a warmer Arctic. The magnitude of these changes is however hard to predict as we know little about the drivers of current levels of invertebrate...
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ftunivwagenin:oai:library.wur.nl:wurpubs/523695 2024-04-28T08:11:39+00:00 Background invertebrate herbivory on dwarf birch (Betula glandulosa-nana complex) increases with temperature and precipitation across the tundra biome Barrio, Isabel C. Heijmans, M.M.P.D. Limpens, J. 2017 application/pdf https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/background-invertebrate-herbivory-on-dwarf-birch-betula-glandulos https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-017-2139-7 en eng https://edepot.wur.nl/418651 https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/background-invertebrate-herbivory-on-dwarf-birch-betula-glandulos doi:10.1007/s00300-017-2139-7 Wageningen University & Research Polar Biology 40 (2017) 11 ISSN: 0722-4060 Background insect herbivory Climate change Externally feeding defoliators Gall makers Latitudinal Herbivory Hypothesis Leaf damage Leaf miners Macroecological pattern Article/Letter to editor 2017 ftunivwagenin https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-017-2139-7 2024-04-03T15:23:10Z Chronic, low intensity herbivory by invertebrates, termed background herbivory, has been understudied in tundra, yet its impacts are likely to increase in a warmer Arctic. The magnitude of these changes is however hard to predict as we know little about the drivers of current levels of invertebrate herbivory in tundra. We assessed the intensity of invertebrate herbivory on a common tundra plant, the dwarf birch (Betula glandulosa-nana complex), and investigated its relationship to latitude and climate across the tundra biome. Leaf damage by defoliating, mining and gall-forming invertebrates was measured in samples collected from 192 sites at 56 locations. Our results indicate that invertebrate herbivory is nearly ubiquitous across the tundra biome but occurs at low intensity. On average, invertebrates damaged 11.2% of the leaves and removed 1.4% of total leaf area. The damage was mainly caused by external leaf feeders, and most damaged leaves were only slightly affected (12% leaf area lost). Foliar damage was consistently positively correlated with mid-summer (July) temperature and, to a lesser extent, precipitation in the year of data collection, irrespective of latitude. Our models predict that, on average, foliar losses to invertebrates on dwarf birch are likely to increase by 6–7% over the current levels with a 1 °C increase in summer temperatures. Our results show that invertebrate herbivory on dwarf birch is small in magnitude but given its prevalence and dependence on climatic variables, background invertebrate herbivory should be included in predictions of climate change impacts on tundra ecosystems. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change Dwarf birch Polar Biology Tundra Wageningen UR (University & Research Centre): Digital Library Polar Biology 40 11 2265 2278 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Wageningen UR (University & Research Centre): Digital Library |
op_collection_id |
ftunivwagenin |
language |
English |
topic |
Background insect herbivory Climate change Externally feeding defoliators Gall makers Latitudinal Herbivory Hypothesis Leaf damage Leaf miners Macroecological pattern |
spellingShingle |
Background insect herbivory Climate change Externally feeding defoliators Gall makers Latitudinal Herbivory Hypothesis Leaf damage Leaf miners Macroecological pattern Barrio, Isabel C. Heijmans, M.M.P.D. Limpens, J. Background invertebrate herbivory on dwarf birch (Betula glandulosa-nana complex) increases with temperature and precipitation across the tundra biome |
topic_facet |
Background insect herbivory Climate change Externally feeding defoliators Gall makers Latitudinal Herbivory Hypothesis Leaf damage Leaf miners Macroecological pattern |
description |
Chronic, low intensity herbivory by invertebrates, termed background herbivory, has been understudied in tundra, yet its impacts are likely to increase in a warmer Arctic. The magnitude of these changes is however hard to predict as we know little about the drivers of current levels of invertebrate herbivory in tundra. We assessed the intensity of invertebrate herbivory on a common tundra plant, the dwarf birch (Betula glandulosa-nana complex), and investigated its relationship to latitude and climate across the tundra biome. Leaf damage by defoliating, mining and gall-forming invertebrates was measured in samples collected from 192 sites at 56 locations. Our results indicate that invertebrate herbivory is nearly ubiquitous across the tundra biome but occurs at low intensity. On average, invertebrates damaged 11.2% of the leaves and removed 1.4% of total leaf area. The damage was mainly caused by external leaf feeders, and most damaged leaves were only slightly affected (12% leaf area lost). Foliar damage was consistently positively correlated with mid-summer (July) temperature and, to a lesser extent, precipitation in the year of data collection, irrespective of latitude. Our models predict that, on average, foliar losses to invertebrates on dwarf birch are likely to increase by 6–7% over the current levels with a 1 °C increase in summer temperatures. Our results show that invertebrate herbivory on dwarf birch is small in magnitude but given its prevalence and dependence on climatic variables, background invertebrate herbivory should be included in predictions of climate change impacts on tundra ecosystems. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Barrio, Isabel C. Heijmans, M.M.P.D. Limpens, J. |
author_facet |
Barrio, Isabel C. Heijmans, M.M.P.D. Limpens, J. |
author_sort |
Barrio, Isabel C. |
title |
Background invertebrate herbivory on dwarf birch (Betula glandulosa-nana complex) increases with temperature and precipitation across the tundra biome |
title_short |
Background invertebrate herbivory on dwarf birch (Betula glandulosa-nana complex) increases with temperature and precipitation across the tundra biome |
title_full |
Background invertebrate herbivory on dwarf birch (Betula glandulosa-nana complex) increases with temperature and precipitation across the tundra biome |
title_fullStr |
Background invertebrate herbivory on dwarf birch (Betula glandulosa-nana complex) increases with temperature and precipitation across the tundra biome |
title_full_unstemmed |
Background invertebrate herbivory on dwarf birch (Betula glandulosa-nana complex) increases with temperature and precipitation across the tundra biome |
title_sort |
background invertebrate herbivory on dwarf birch (betula glandulosa-nana complex) increases with temperature and precipitation across the tundra biome |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/background-invertebrate-herbivory-on-dwarf-birch-betula-glandulos https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-017-2139-7 |
genre |
Arctic Climate change Dwarf birch Polar Biology Tundra |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change Dwarf birch Polar Biology Tundra |
op_source |
Polar Biology 40 (2017) 11 ISSN: 0722-4060 |
op_relation |
https://edepot.wur.nl/418651 https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/background-invertebrate-herbivory-on-dwarf-birch-betula-glandulos doi:10.1007/s00300-017-2139-7 |
op_rights |
Wageningen University & Research |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-017-2139-7 |
container_title |
Polar Biology |
container_volume |
40 |
container_issue |
11 |
container_start_page |
2265 |
op_container_end_page |
2278 |
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