Wappler, Torsten

German

Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg: Elektronische Zeitschriften

94  3rd InternatIonal ConferenCe of ContInental IChnology, abstraCt Volume & fIeld trIp guIdePlant-insect interactions in deep timetorsten wapplerHessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt, 64283 Darmstadt, Germany     torsten.wappler@hlmd.deAbstract:Fossil evidence of insect herbivory dates back to the early Devonian, and all of the fundamental feeding strategies of herbivorous insects, except leaf mining, were established by the Late Carbon-iferous. Over the last 400 million years, trophic complexity (the relationship between the number of species and the density of trophic interactions) and insect feeding diversity (the number of distinct ways in which insects consume plants) have increased. Today, food webs incorporating plants, phy-tophagous insects, and carnivorous insects account for up to 75% of non-microbial global terres-trial biodiversity. Thus, plant-insect interactions affect practically all terrestrial life. Paleobiological studies of insect damage on fossil plants can provide valuable information about insect diversity, ecological interactions, and evolutionary adaptation. For example, the Paleozoic–Mesozoic transition is characterized not only by the most massive Pha-nerozoic mass extinction at the end of Permian, but also extensive aftermath and a prolonged pe-riod of major biotal recovery during the succeeding Middle to Late Triassic. This delayed recovery is generally attributed to the effects of extreme environmental conditions inflicted on Early Triassic ecosystems. Studies of insect damage on plants are often the only way to learn about how insect diversity and ecological associations respond to environmental changes. Both paleobiological and ecological studies provide valuable information on how insects might have been affected.Keywords: herbivory, insects, gymnosperms, angiosperms, climatic fluctuations

Plant-insect interactions in deep time

http://public.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/index.php/hjgb/article/download/1870/1906

Plant-insect interactions in deep time

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Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg: Elektronische Zeitschriften