Insect Herbivory Releases More Nutrients in Warmer and Drier Forests

Abstract Climate, forest successional stage, and soil substrate age can alter herbivore communities and their effects on biogeochemical cycling, but the size and spatial variability of these effects are poorly quantified. To address this knowledge gap, we established a globally distributed network of 50 broadleaved old‐growth forests across six continents, encompassing well‐constrained local‐scale gradients in mean annual temperature (MAT), mean annual precipitation (MAP), succession, and soil substrate age. We used this network to investigate how these variables impact insect foliar herbivory and the associated carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and silica fluxes in forest ecosystems. Over 1 to 2 years, we measured stand‐level foliar biomass production, leaf‐level herbivory, and foliar element concentrations. At the global scale, insect herbivores liberated higher amounts of elements from the canopies of warmer and drier sites than those of cooler and wetter sites with patterns for phosphorus being most pronounced. MAT exerted a stronger influence over insect‐mediated element fluxes than MAP. Foliar biomass production and leaf‐level herbivory responses to MAT and MAP were mainly responsible for the observed changes in insect‐mediated element fluxes; we also observed minor effects of foliar phosphorus concentration on phosphorus fluxes. Local‐scale trends were mixed and successional stage or soil substrate age did not appear to influence insect herbivore‐mediated element fluxes. These results demonstrate that climate effects on plant‐herbivore interactions are stronger at large than small scales, at which herbivory rates and nutrient fluxes appear to be more strongly affected by a diversity of non‐climate factors.

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Publication Details

Journal
Global Biogeochemical Cycles
Published
2025-04-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1029/2024gb008367
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Fire effects on ecosystems
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.11

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article

Insect Herbivory Releases More Nutrients in Warmer and Drier Forests

Seana K. Walsh, Ion Cătălin Petrițan, Haoyu Diao, Mariano A. Rodríguez‐Cabal et al.
1 citations
Global Biogeochemical Cycles
Fire effects on ecosystems
1.11
article

Insect Herbivory Releases More Nutrients in Warmer and Drier Forests

Seana K. Walsh, Ion Cătălin Petrițan, Haoyu Diao, Mariano A. Rodríguez‐Cabal, Virginia G. Duboscq-Carra, Daniel B. Metcalfe, M. Noelia Barrios‐García, Andreas Hemp, Claudia Hemp, Tommi Andersson, Mylthon Jiménez‐Castillo, Ana Cristina Palma, Levan Mumladze, Bernice C. Hwang, Giorgi Iankoshvili, Kainana S. Francisco, Paulina Lobos‐Catalán, Christian P. Giardina, Shelley A. Gage
article en
1 citations

Abstract

Abstract Climate, forest successional stage, and soil substrate age can alter herbivore communities and their effects on biogeochemical cycling, but the size and spatial variability of these effects are poorly quantified. To address this knowledge gap, we established a globally distributed network of 50 broadleaved old‐growth forests across six continents, encompassing well‐constrained local‐scale gradients in mean annual temperature (MAT), mean annual precipitation (MAP), succession, and soil substrate age. We used this network to investigate how these variables impact insect foliar herbivory and the associated carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and silica fluxes in forest ecosystems. Over 1 to 2 years, we measured stand‐level foliar biomass production, leaf‐level herbivory, and foliar element concentrations. At the global scale, insect herbivores liberated higher amounts of elements from the canopies of warmer and drier sites than those of cooler and wetter sites with patterns for phosphorus being most pronounced. MAT exerted a stronger influence over insect‐mediated element fluxes than MAP. Foliar biomass production and leaf‐level herbivory responses to MAT and MAP were mainly responsible for the observed changes in insect‐mediated element fluxes; we also observed minor effects of foliar phosphorus concentration on phosphorus fluxes. Local‐scale trends were mixed and successional stage or soil substrate age did not appear to influence insect herbivore‐mediated element fluxes. These results demonstrate that climate effects on plant‐herbivore interactions are stronger at large than small scales, at which herbivory rates and nutrient fluxes appear to be more strongly affected by a diversity of non‐climate factors.

Global Biogeochemical CyclesVol. 39(4)
University of Vermont (US), National Tropical Botanical Garden (US), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (AR), University of Turku (FI), Austral University of Chile (CL), The University of Queensland (AU), Ilia State University (GE), Lund University (SE), Universität Innsbruck (AT), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (CH), Transylvania University of Brașov (RO), National University of Río Negro (AR), Institute of Applied Ecology (CN), Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (DE), Pacific Southwest Research Station (US), Agriculture and Food (AU), ARC Centre of Excellence for Plant Success in Nature and Agriculture (AU), University of Bayreuth (DE), Universidad Nacional del Comahue (AR), James Cook University (AU), Umeå University (SE)
U.S. Department of Agriculture, University of Hawai'i, European Commission, U.S. Forest Service, University of Hawai'i at Hilo
Openalex Percentile: Top 26%
Fire effects on ecosystems
1.11
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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