Interactions between the Encelia leaf beetle and its host plant, Encelia farinosa: The influence of acidic fog on insect growth and plant chemistry

Structure and absolute configuration of hydroxy-bis-dihydrofarinosin from Encelia farinosa

The structure of the dimeric eudesmanolide hydroxy-bis-dihydrofarinosin (1) from Encelia farinosa followed after contrasting their ¹ H and ¹³ C NMR spectra with those of encelin (6), hydroxy-bis-dihydroencelin (3), and farinosin (4). Structure 1 was verified by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis, which further provided the stereochemistry of the hydroxy group at C-4. Comparison of the experimental vibrational circular dichroism spectrum of its derived diacetate 2 with that calculated by density functional theory provided the absolute configuration, which resulted the same as that of its biogenetic precursor 4. Evaluation of several chemical shift differences between the two eudesmanolide fragments of 1 and 3 allows also ascertaining the yet not reported absolute configuration of the C-4 stereogenic center of 3. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Effects of pollutants on bottom-up and top-down processes in insect-plant interactions

Bottom-up (host plant quality) and top-down (natural enemies) forces both influence the fitness and population dynamics of herbivores. However, the impact of pollutants acting on these forces has not been examined, which prompted us to review the literature to test hypotheses regarding this area of research. A comprehensive literature search found 126 references which examined fitness components and population dynamics of 203 insect herbivores. One hundred and fifty-three of the 203 herbivores (75.4%) had fitness impacted due to bottom-up factors in polluted environments. In contrast, only 20 of the 203 (9.9%) had fitness significantly impacted due to top-down factors in polluted environments. The paucity of results for top-down factors impacting fitness does not necessarily mean that top-down factors are less important, but rather that fewer studies include natural enemies. We provide a synthesis of available data by pollution type and herbivore guild, and suggest future research to address this issue.

Assessing the consequences of global change for forest disturbance from herbivores and pathogens

Herbivores and pathogens impact the species composition, ecosystem function, and socioeconomic value of forests. Herbivores and pathogens are an integral part of forests, but sometimes produce undesirable effects and a degradation of forest resources. In the United States, a few species of forest pests routinely have significant impacts on up to 20 million ha of forest with economic costs that probably exceed $1 billion/year. Climatic change could alter patterns of disturbance from herbivores and pathogens through: (1) direct effects on the development and survival of herbivores and pathogens; (2) physiological changes in tree defenses; and (3) indirect effects from changes in the abundance of natural enemies (e.g. parasitoids of insect herbivores), mutualists (e.g. insect vectors of tree pathogens), and competitors. Because of their short life cycles, mobility, reproductive potential, and physiological sensitivity to temperature, even modest climate change will have rapid impacts on the distribution and abundance of many forest insects and pathogens. We identify 32 syndromes of biotic disturbance in North American forests that should be carefully evaluated for their responses to climate change: 15 insect herbivores, browsing mammals; 12 pathogens; 1 plant parasite; and 3 undiagnosed patterns of forest decline. It is probable that climatic effects on some herbivores and pathogens will impact on biodiversity, recreation, property value, forest industry, and even water quality. Some scenarios are beneficial (e.g. decreased snow cover may increase winter mortality of some insect pests), but many are detrimental (e.g. warming tends to accelerate insect development rate and facilitate range expansions of pests and climate change tends to produce a mismatch between mature trees and their environment, which can increase vulnerability to herbivores and pathogens). Changes in forest disturbance can produce feedback to climate through affects on water and carbon flux in forest ecosystems; one alarming scenario is that climate warming may increase insect outbreaks in boreal forests, which would tend to increase forest fires and exacerbate further climate warming by releasing carbon stores from boreal ecosystems. We suggest a list of research priorities that will allow us to refine these risk assessments and adopt forest management strategies that anticipate changes in biotic disturbance regimes and mitigate the ecological, social, and economic risks.