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Pitteloud C, Defossez E, Albouy C, Descombes P, Rasmann S, Pellissier L. DNA-based networks reveal the ecological determinants of plant-herbivore interactions along environmental gradients. Mol Ecol 2023; 32:6436-6448. [PMID: 35620937 DOI: 10.1111/mec.16545] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2021] [Revised: 05/05/2022] [Accepted: 05/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Understanding the ecological rules structuring the organization of species interactions is a prerequisite to predicting how ecosystems respond to environmental changes. While the ecological determinants of single networks have been documented, it remains unclear whether network ecological rules are conserved along spatial and environmental gradients. To address this gap, we reconstructed 48 plant-herbivore interaction networks along six elevation gradients in the Central European Alps in Switzerland, using DNA metabarcoding on orthoptera faeces. We developed hypotheses on the ecological mechanisms expected to structure interaction networks, based on plant phylogeny, plant abundance, leaf toughness, leaf nitrogen content and plant metabolomics. We show that plant phylogenetic relationships and species abundance have the greatest explanatory power regarding the structure of the ecological networks. Moreover, we found that leaf nitrogen content is a key determinant of interactions in warmer environments, while phenolic compounds and tannins are more important in colder environments, suggesting that determinants of species interactions can shift along environmental gradients. With this work, we propose an approach to study the mechanisms that structure the way species interact with each other between bioregions and ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camille Pitteloud
- Department of Environmental Systems Science, Ecosystems and Landscape Evolution, Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
- Unit of Land Change Science, Swiss Federal Research Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Emmanuel Defossez
- Functional Ecology Laboratory, Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
| | - Camille Albouy
- Department of Environmental Systems Science, Ecosystems and Landscape Evolution, Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
- Unit of Land Change Science, Swiss Federal Research Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Birmensdorf, Switzerland
- DECOD (Ecosystem Dynamics and Sustainability), IFREMER, INRAE, Institut Agro - Agrocampus Ouest, Nantes cedex 3, France
| | - Patrice Descombes
- Unit of Land Change Science, Swiss Federal Research Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Sergio Rasmann
- Functional Ecology Laboratory, Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
| | - Loïc Pellissier
- Department of Environmental Systems Science, Ecosystems and Landscape Evolution, Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
- Unit of Land Change Science, Swiss Federal Research Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Birmensdorf, Switzerland
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