Am Nat. 2024 Oct;204(4):416-431. doi: 10.1086/731995. Epub 2024 Sep 4.
AbstractThe influence of climate on deep-time plant-insect interactions is becoming increasingly well known, with temperature, CO increases (and associated stoichiometric changes in plants), and aridity likely playing a critical role. In our modern climate, all three factors are shifting at an unprecedented rate, with uncertain consequences for biodiversity. To investigate effects of temperature, stoichiometry (specifically that of nitrogen), and aridity on insect herbivory, we explored insect herbivory in three modern floral assemblages and in 39 fossil floras, especially focusing on eight floras around a past hyperthermal event (the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum) from Bighorn Basin (BB). We find that higher temperatures were associated with increased herbivory in the past, especially among BB sites. In these BB sites, non-N-fixing plants experienced a lower richness but higher frequency of herbivory damage than N-fixing plants. Herbivory frequency but not richness was greater in BB sites compared with contemporaneous, nearby, but less arid sites from Hanna Basin. Compared with deep-time environments, herbivory frequency and richness are higher in modern sites, suggesting that current accelerated warming uniquely impacts plant-insect interactions. Overall, our work addresses multiple aspects of climate change using fossil data while also contextualizing the impact of modern anthropogenic change on Earth's most diverse interactions.
摘要 气候对长时间植物-昆虫相互作用的影响越来越被人们所熟知，温度、CO 增加（以及植物中相应的化学计量变化）和干旱可能起着关键作用。在我们的现代气候中，这三个因素都以前所未有的速度发生变化，对生物多样性有着不确定的影响。为了研究温度、化学计量（特别是氮）和干旱对昆虫取食的影响，我们在三个现代花卉组合和 39 个化石花区中探索了昆虫取食情况，特别是重点关注了比霍恩盆地（BB）过去过热事件（古新世-始新世极热事件）的 8 个化石花区。我们发现过去温度较高与取食增加有关，尤其是在 BB 地区。在这些 BB 地区，与固氮植物相比，非固氮植物的取食丰富度较低，但取食损伤的频率较高。与同时期、附近但较干旱的汉纳盆地（Hanna Basin）相比，BB 地区的取食频率更高，但取食丰富度却更低。与长时间的环境相比，现代地区的取食频率和丰富度更高，这表明当前加速的变暖对植物-昆虫相互作用有独特的影响。总的来说，我们的工作使用化石数据解决了气候变化的多个方面，同时也使现代人为变化对地球上最多样化的相互作用的影响具有背景意义。
