Department of Biology, Hillsdale College, 33 East College Street, Hillsdale, MI 49242, USA.
Environ Entomol. 2022 Aug 19;51(4):716-727. doi: 10.1093/ee/nvac035.
The effects of plants on insects are not completely clear due to potential covariation of weather or location affecting both assemblages. To address this question, plant and insect assemblages were described during summer 2019 and 2020 in two different forest habitats of northern Lower Michigan. The first habitat was a hardwood forest typical of secondary succession in the region. The second was a hydric forest located ~20 m from the hardwood forest which developed after lake sediment was deposited into a 10-ha area in the early 2000s. Reflecting this sediment deposition, soil of the hydric forest had higher water content and organic matter, and was dominated by the plant genera Solidago (Asterales: Asteraceae), Rubus (Rosales: Rosaceae), and Salix (Malpighiales: Salicaceae). In contrast, the hardwood forest had greater inorganic sediment and was dominated by Pteridium (Polypodiales: Dennstaedtiaceae), Carex (Poales: Cyperaceae), and Acer. Nearly 140,000 insect specimens were sampled using pitfall trapping, sweep netting, flight intercept trapping, ultraviolet light trapping, and yellow and blue pan trapping. The first three methods each sampled a unique insect assemblage, whereas the last three overlapped in taxa sampled. Insect assemblages of the two forests were distinct from each other using any of the six methods, with abundance of Pteridium and Salix (Sapindales: Sapindaceae) generally associating with changes in insect composition. A total of 41 insect taxa indicated the hydric forest and 14 indicated the hardwood forest. Insect richness increased with that of plants. These results demonstrate that differences in soil composition and plant assemblages associate with differences in forest insect assemblages, even of forests in very close proximity.
由于天气或地理位置的潜在变化会同时影响两组昆虫集合，因此植物对昆虫的影响并不完全清楚。为了解决这个问题，在 2019 年和 2020 年的夏季，在密歇根州北部的两个不同森林生境中描述了植物和昆虫的集合。第一个生境是该地区次生演替的典型硬木林。第二个是一个湿地林，位于离硬木林约 20 米的地方，它是在 21 世纪初，湖底沉积物被沉积到 10 公顷的区域后发展起来的。反映了这种沉积物的沉积，湿地林的土壤水分和有机质含量较高，主要由 Solidago（Asterales：Asteraceae）、Rubus（Rosales：Rosaceae）和 Salix（Malpighiales：Salicaceae）属的植物组成。相比之下，硬木林有更多的无机沉积物，主要由 Pteridium（Polypodiales：Dennstaedtiaceae）、Carex（Poales：Cyperaceae）和 Acer 组成。使用陷阱诱捕、扫网、飞行拦截诱捕、紫外线诱捕和黄色和蓝色盘诱捕法，共采集了近 14 万只昆虫标本。前三种方法各采集了一组独特的昆虫集合，而后三种方法在采集的类群上有重叠。使用这六种方法中的任何一种，这两个森林的昆虫集合彼此不同，通常，Pteridium 和 Salix（Sapindales：Sapindaceae）的丰度与昆虫组成的变化相关。共有 41 种昆虫表明是湿地林，14 种表明是硬木林。昆虫丰富度随着植物的增加而增加。这些结果表明，土壤组成和植物集合的差异与森林昆虫集合的差异有关，即使是在非常接近的森林中也是如此。
