Data Paper. Data Paper

<h2>File List</h2><div> <p><a href="HeteropteraMorphometricTraits.txt">HeteropteraMorphometricTraits.txt</a> (MD5: a1b2dd57f22c84ad491f4d27a7397db0)</p> <p><a href="HeteropteraMorphometricTraitsRAW.txt">HeteropteraMorphometricTraitsRAW.txt</a> (MD5: b961a75fd0f1e833dc01c6e93e424d83)</p> </div><h2>Description</h2><div> <p>Trait-based approaches have increased significantly in community ecology during the last decade. This is not least because studies on biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationships became a major topic in ecology. Species’ functions in ecosystems are mediated by their traits. For a better understanding of the relationships between environmental drivers, the community composition of organisms and ecosystems functioning, it is crucial to understand how these relationships are mediated by the communities’ trait composition. While there are world-wide efforts to set up trait databases, most have so far focused on plants and species-poorer taxa such as birds or amphibians. In contrast, for insects, the large number of species makes the gathering of comparable trait data a challenging task. In addition, there is the danger that generic trait information, which is available from common textbooks, may not be sufficient to detect the response of insect communities to environmental change or the consequences of trait changes for ecosystem functioning. One method to overcome this is to take morphometric measurements of species. In this study we measured morphometric traits of a total of 179 Heteroptera species that were sampled by sweep-netting on a total of 150 managed grassland plots across three regions in Germany between 2008 and 2012. These plots represent the whole range of grassland management intensities from extensively used pastures to mown pastures to intensively managed and fertilized meadows. In this paper we provide a database of mean values of 23 morphometric measures across sex and morphotypes for each sampled Heteroptera species. Morphological traits are assumed to be related to their adaptation and function in the environment. Thus the relative morphometric traits can be used as proxies for ecological features of a species that may affect its performance or fitness. Our database can be used by future trait-based studies for developing and testing hypotheses of the functional significance of these traits. Examples include studying the functional responses of insect communities to environmental drivers or studying how the change in trait composition affects ecosystem processes. </p> <p> <i>Key words</i>: <i>antenna length; body shape; body size; eye size; femur shape; insects; land-use intensity; leg length; rostrum length; true bugs; wing length.</i> </p> </div

Where Is the Extended Phenotype in the Wild? The Community Composition of Arthropods on Mature Oak Trees Does Not Depend on the Oak Genotype

<div><p>Through a series of common garden experiments, it has been shown that heritable phenotypic differences between individual trees can affect arthropod communities. However, field studies under heterogeneous environmental conditions remain rare. In the present study, we investigated the genetic constitution of 121 mature oak host trees at different trophic levels from 10 sites across Bavaria, southern Germany and their associated insect communities. A total of 23,576 individuals representing 395 species of beetles and true bugs were evaluated. In particular, we determined whether the composition of arthropod communities is related to the oak genotype and whether the strength of the relationships decreases from lower to higher trophic levels, such as for phytophagous, xylophagous, zoophagous, and mycetophagous species. The genetic differentiation of oaks was assessed using eight microsatellite markers. We found no significant influence of the oak genotype on neither the full beetle and true bug community nor on any of the analyzed trophic guilds. In contrast, the community composition of the insects was highly related to the space and climate, such that the community similarity decreased with increases in spatial distance and climatic differences. The relationship with space and climate was much stronger in beetles than in true bugs, particularly in mycetophagous species. Our results suggest that spatial processes override the genetic effects of the host plant in structuring arthropod communities on oak trees. Because we used neutral markers, we cannot exclude the possibility that trait-specific markers may reveal a genetic imprint of the foundation tree species on the composition of the arthropod community. However, based on the strength of the spatial patterns in our data set, we assume that genetic differences among oaks are less important in the structuring of arthropod communities. Future whole-genome studies are required to draw a final conclusion.</p></div

01_Arthropods_2008

The files 01_Arthropods_2008 and 01_Arthropods_2009 include abundance data on adult arthropods per plot and year. SpeciesCode --> Species' identifier, identical across years Author--> Author of species' name Order --> Taxonomic oder Suborder --> Taxonomic suborder Family --> Taxonomic family Body_length_mm --> mean body length [mm] for the species as described in literature Biomass_mg --> estimated species' biomass [mg] which was calculated from Body_length_mm Feeding --> species' feeding guild (predator or herbivor) AEG01 etc. --> plot-specific I

Community similarity of true bugs, beetles and oaks vs. geographic distance.

<p>Correlogram of the community similarity of beetles, true bugs, and oaks as a function of distance (in km). This correlogram is interpreted as Moran’s I.</p

True bug communities vs. geographic and genetic distance.

<p>Bray-Curtis dissimilarities of the true bug communities plotted against geographic distances (in km) and against genetic distances (Manhattan distances). The r² and p values correspond to the results of respective Mantel tests.</p

Mantel test between the oak genotype, space, climate and arthropod assemblages.

<p>Relationship between pair-wise community composition estimates (in transformed Bray Curtis dissimilarity index of true bugs and beetles) and oak genetic distances (OGD), spatial distance (Space), climatic differences (Climate) and among the OGD, Space and Climate distance measures. The results of the Mantel test based on Pearson’s product-moment correlations are provided. Set1 and Set2 indicate the first and second matrix of each Mantel test, respectively. Climate refers to the main climatic components (see <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0115733#sec002" target="_blank">Material and Methods</a>). The significance levels are as follows: *** p<0.001, ** p<0.01, and *p<0.05.</p><p>Mantel test between the oak genotype, space, climate and arthropod assemblages.</p

Multiple Glacial Refugia of the Low-Dispersal Ground Beetle <i>Carabus irregularis</i>: Molecular Data Support Predictions of Species Distribution Models

<div><p>Classical glacial refugia such as the southern European peninsulas were important for species survival during glacial periods and acted as sources of post-glacial colonisation processes. Only recently, some studies have provided evidence for glacial refugia north of the southern European peninsulas. In the present study, we combined species distribution models (SDMs) with phylogeographic analyses (using mitochondrial DNA = mtDNA) to investigate if the cold-adapted, stenotopic and flightless ground beetle species, <i>Carabus irregularis</i>, survived the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in classical and/or other refugia. SDMs (for both a western European and for a Carpathian subgroup) were calculated with MAXENT on the basis of 645 species records to predict current and past distribution patterns. Two mtDNA loci (CO1 and ND5, concatenated sequence length: 1785 bp) were analyzed from 91 <i>C. irregularis</i> specimens to reconstruct the phylogeography of Central and eastern European populations and to estimate divergence times of the given lineages. Strong intra-specific genetic differentiation (inter-clade Φ_ST values ranged from 0.92 to 0.99) implied long-term isolation of major clades and subsclades. The high divergence between the nominate subspecies and the Carpathian subspecies <i>C. i. montandoni</i> points to two independent species rather than subspecies (K-2P distance 0.042 ± 0.004; supposed divergence of the maternal lineages dated back 1.6 to 2.5 million years BP) differing not only morphologically but also genetically and ecologically from each other. The SDMs also inferred classical as well as other refugia for <i>C. irregularis</i>, especially north of the Alps, in southeastern Europe and in the Carpathians. The coincidences between the results of both methods confirm the assumption of multiple glacial refugia for the studied species and the usefulness of combining methodological approaches for the understanding of the history of low-dispersal insect species.</p> </div

01_Arthropods_2009

The files 01_Arthropods_2008 and 01_Arthropods_2009 include abundance data on adult arthropods per plot and year. SpeciesCode --> Species' identifier, identical across years Author--> Author of species' name Order --> Taxonomic oder Suborder --> Taxonomic suborder Family --> Taxonomic family Body_length_mm --> mean body length [mm] for the species as described in literature Biomass_mg --> estimated species' biomass [mg] which was calculated from Body_length_mm Feeding --> species' feeding guild (predator or herbivor) AEG01 etc. --> plot-specific I

Beetle communities vs. geographic and genetic distance.

<p>Bray-Curtis dissimilarities of the beetle communities plotted against geographic distances (in km) and against genetic distances (Manhattan distances). The r² and p values correspond to the results from the respective Mantel tests. A regression line is plotted in red.</p

Results of Analysis of Molecular Variance (AMOVA) for different hierarchical levels: subclades, clades and subspecies.

<p>Results of Analysis of Molecular Variance (AMOVA) for different hierarchical levels: subclades, clades and subspecies.</p