19 research outputs found
Moe&Weiblen_growthdata
Growth measurements (139 days after planting) for seedlings resulting from experimental crosses
Moe&Weiblen_genotypes
microsatellite genotypes for 50 individuals of 6 species of Ficus. Formatted for STRUCTURE
Mantel_test_files
Data files needed to perform both spatial and phylogenetic Mantel tests
core_endo_analysis
R analysis scripts for core analysis of host association and beta diversity of fungal endophyte communities
endophyte_occurence_files
Flat data files of endophyte cultures isolated from rainforest trees in New Guinea. Files included are collections at Wanang in 2010 and 2011, Wamangu in 2011, and Ohu in 2011. Additionally there is a file composed of all 2011 collections
functional_trait_data
Data files used to perform analyses of correlation between host tree functional traits and endophyte community composition. Files include endophyte occurrence with the host genus Psychotria removed and host tree information including functional trait values
host_tree_data
Host tree data files needed for multivariate analyses of endophyte community composition
Data and Code for Hungry Caterpillars
An archive folder containing the 54 files needed to reproduce the results and figures reported in 'Varyingly Hungry Caterpillars: Predictive Models and Foliar Chemistry Suggest How to Eat a Rainforest'. The folder includes both raw data and files for analysis and one README file. Each file is described in the README file and is presented in the same order as in the R file containing the script necessary for the analyses
Table_2_Species swarms and their caterpillar colonisers: phylogeny and polyphenols determine host plant specificity in New Guinean Lepidoptera.xlsx
The majority of multi-cellular terrestrial life is found in tropical forests and is either an invertebrate or a plant: for decades ecologists have sought to understand why. As global change erodes the list of extant species on our planet quantifying what species remain, along with their origins and ecology, contributes to our ability to preserve ecosystem functioning and resilience. Here we study three feeding guilds of caterpillars (Lepidoptera) and seek to understand the drivers of their diet breadth across four diverse tropical plant genera in Papua New Guinea. Host specificity is central to biodiversity estimates and the resilience of ecological networks. Specifically, we calculate distance-based host specificity in relation to plant phylogenetic relationships alongside chemical and mechanical traits of leaves. In terms of chemical defenses, we focus on the major polyphenol groups, a compound class shared across many plant species. We refine our data exploration using food webs and ordinations to pick out specific traits of relevance to insect host specificity. Our results showed that the degree of specialization for caterpillars took the following order: phylogenetic>polyphenol>mechanical, such that insect specificity was explained best by host phylogeny and polyphenol chemistry in our study system. Leaf mining insects had higher host specificity than those feeding externally. Of the traits studied hexahydroxydiphenoyl derivatives, galloyl derivatives, trichome density, quinic acid derivatives, myricetins and successional index explained the most variation in overall insect community structure. Our findings build on earlier studies of New Guinean rainforest communities and add a mechanistic explanation to previous findings that host genera are functional islands for insect herbivores. Further, we demonstrate that different plant genera combine different defensive traits that appear to drive associated insect diversity. Our approach integrates trait data and phylogeny to explore dimensions of specialization and we welcome metabolomic studies that will provide more detailed explanations for insect-herbivore host use. Finally, chemical diversity is directly linked to organismal diversity and by studying a range of insect herbivore guilds we make a connection between feeding ecology and specialization that will help to predict species interactions and, potentially, the persistence of ecological networks.</p
Table_1_Species swarms and their caterpillar colonisers: phylogeny and polyphenols determine host plant specificity in New Guinean Lepidoptera.docx
The majority of multi-cellular terrestrial life is found in tropical forests and is either an invertebrate or a plant: for decades ecologists have sought to understand why. As global change erodes the list of extant species on our planet quantifying what species remain, along with their origins and ecology, contributes to our ability to preserve ecosystem functioning and resilience. Here we study three feeding guilds of caterpillars (Lepidoptera) and seek to understand the drivers of their diet breadth across four diverse tropical plant genera in Papua New Guinea. Host specificity is central to biodiversity estimates and the resilience of ecological networks. Specifically, we calculate distance-based host specificity in relation to plant phylogenetic relationships alongside chemical and mechanical traits of leaves. In terms of chemical defenses, we focus on the major polyphenol groups, a compound class shared across many plant species. We refine our data exploration using food webs and ordinations to pick out specific traits of relevance to insect host specificity. Our results showed that the degree of specialization for caterpillars took the following order: phylogenetic>polyphenol>mechanical, such that insect specificity was explained best by host phylogeny and polyphenol chemistry in our study system. Leaf mining insects had higher host specificity than those feeding externally. Of the traits studied hexahydroxydiphenoyl derivatives, galloyl derivatives, trichome density, quinic acid derivatives, myricetins and successional index explained the most variation in overall insect community structure. Our findings build on earlier studies of New Guinean rainforest communities and add a mechanistic explanation to previous findings that host genera are functional islands for insect herbivores. Further, we demonstrate that different plant genera combine different defensive traits that appear to drive associated insect diversity. Our approach integrates trait data and phylogeny to explore dimensions of specialization and we welcome metabolomic studies that will provide more detailed explanations for insect-herbivore host use. Finally, chemical diversity is directly linked to organismal diversity and by studying a range of insect herbivore guilds we make a connection between feeding ecology and specialization that will help to predict species interactions and, potentially, the persistence of ecological networks.</p