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Azevedo-Schmidt L, Swain A, Shoemaker LG, Currano ED. Landscape-level variability and insect herbivore outbreak captured within modern forests provides a framework for interpreting the fossil record. Sci Rep 2023; 13:9701. [PMID: 37322107 PMCID: PMC10272219 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-36763-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2023] [Accepted: 06/09/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Temporal patterns of plant-insect interactions are readily observed within fossil datasets but spatial variability is harder to disentangle without comparable modern methods due to limitations in preservation. This is problematic as spatial variability influences community structure and interactions. To address this we replicated paleobotanical methods within three modern forests, creating an analogous dataset that rigorously tested inter- and intra-forest plant-insect variability. Random mixed effects models, non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) ordinations, and bipartite network- and node-level metrics were used. Total damage frequency and diversity did not differ across forests but differences in functional feeding groups (FFGs) were observed across forests, correlating with plant diversity, evenness, and latitude. Overall, we found higher generalized herbivory within the temperate forests than the wet-tropical, a finding also supported by co-occurrence and network analyses at multiple spatial scales. Intra-forest analyses captured consistent damage type communities, supporting paleobotanical efforts. Bipartite networks captured the feeding outbreak of Lymantria dispar caterpillars; an exciting result as insect outbreaks have long been unidentifiable within fossil datasets. These results support paleobotanical assumptions about fossil insect herbivore communities, provide a comparative framework between paleobotanical and modern communities, and suggest a new analytical framework for targeting modern and fossil outbreaks of insect feeding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren Azevedo-Schmidt
- Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, Orono, 04469, USA.
- Department of Botany, University of Wyoming, Laramie, 82071, USA.
| | - Anshuman Swain
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, 02138, USA
| | | | - Ellen D Currano
- Department of Botany, University of Wyoming, Laramie, 82071, USA
- Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wyoming, Laramie, 82071, USA
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Swain A, Azevedo-Schmidt LE, Maccracken SA, Currano ED, Dunne JA, Labandeira CC, Fagan WF. Sampling bias and the robustness of ecological metrics for plant-damage-type association networks. Ecology 2023; 104:e3922. [PMID: 36415050 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3922] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2022] [Accepted: 10/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Plants and their insect herbivores have been a dominant component of the terrestrial ecological landscape for the past 410 million years and feature intricate evolutionary patterns and co-dependencies. A complex systems perspective allows for both detailed resolution of these evolutionary relationships as well as comparison and synthesis across systems. Using proxy data of insect herbivore damage (denoted by the damage type or DT) preserved on fossil leaves, functional bipartite network representations provide insights into how plant-insect associations depend on geological time, paleogeographical space, and environmental variables such as temperature and precipitation. However, the metrics measured from such networks are prone to sampling bias. Such sensitivity is of special concern for plant-DT association networks in paleontological settings where sampling effort is often severely limited. Here, we explore the sensitivity of functional bipartite network metrics to sampling intensity and identify sampling thresholds above which metrics appear robust to sampling effort. Across a broad range of sampling efforts, we find network metrics to be less affected by sampling bias and/or sample size than richness metrics, which are routinely used in studies of fossil plant-DT interactions. These results provide reassurance that cross-comparisons of plant-DT networks offer insights into network structure and function and support their widespread use in paleoecology. Moreover, these findings suggest novel opportunities for using plant-DT networks in neontological terrestrial ecology to understand functional aspects of insect herbivory across geological time, environmental perturbations, and geographic space.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anshuman Swain
- Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA.,Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.,Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Lauren E Azevedo-Schmidt
- Department of Botany, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA.,Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, Orono, Maine, USA
| | - S Augusta Maccracken
- Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.,Department of Earth Sciences, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Denver, Colorado, USA
| | - Ellen D Currano
- Department of Botany, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA.,Department of Geology & Geophysics, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
| | | | - Conrad C Labandeira
- Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.,Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA.,College of Life Sciences and Academy for Multidisciplinary Studies, Capital Normal University, Beijing, People's Republic of China
| | - William F Fagan
- Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
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Cohen AA, Ferrucci L, Fülöp T, Gravel D, Hao N, Kriete A, Levine ME, Lipsitz LA, Olde Rikkert MGM, Rutenberg A, Stroustrup N, Varadhan R. A complex systems approach to aging biology. NATURE AGING 2022; 2:580-591. [PMID: 37117782 DOI: 10.1038/s43587-022-00252-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2021] [Accepted: 06/08/2022] [Indexed: 04/30/2023]
Abstract
Having made substantial progress understanding molecules, cells, genes and pathways, aging biology research is now moving toward integration of these parts, attempting to understand how their joint dynamics may contribute to aging. Such a shift of perspective requires the adoption of a formal complex systems framework, a transition being facilitated by large-scale data collection and new analytical tools. Here, we provide a theoretical framework to orient researchers around key concepts for this transition, notably emergence, interaction networks and resilience. Drawing on evolutionary theory, network theory and principles of homeostasis, we propose that organismal function is accomplished by the integration of regulatory mechanisms at multiple hierarchical scales, and that the disruption of this ensemble causes the phenotypic and functional manifestations of aging. We present key examples at scales ranging from sub-organismal biology to clinical geriatrics, outlining how this approach can potentially enrich our understanding of aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alan A Cohen
- PRIMUS Research Group, Department of Family Medicine, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada.
- Research Center on Aging and Research Center of Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada.
- Butler Columbia Aging Center and Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Luigi Ferrucci
- Intramural Research Program of the National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Tamàs Fülöp
- Research Center on Aging and Research Center of Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
- Department of Medicine, Geriatric Division, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
| | - Dominique Gravel
- Department of Biology, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
| | - Nan Hao
- Section of Molecular Biology, Division of Biological Sciences, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Andres Kriete
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Morgan E Levine
- Department of Pathology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Lewis A Lipsitz
- Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Hebrew SeniorLife, Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Andrew Rutenberg
- Department of Physics and Atmospheric Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
| | - Nicholas Stroustrup
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Ravi Varadhan
- Department of Oncology, Quantitative Sciences Division, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
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