Background invertebrate herbivory on dwarf birch (Betula glandulosa-nana complex) increases with temperature and precipitation across the tundra biome

Background invertebrate herbivory on dwarf birch (Betula glandulosa-nana complex) increases with temperature and precipitation across the tundra biome. Barrio, I. C., Lindén, E., Te Beest, M., Olofsson, J., Rocha, A., Soininen, E. M., Alatalo, J. M., Andersson, T., Asmus, A., Boike, J., Bråthen, K. A., Bryant, J. P., Buchwal, A., Bueno, C. G., Christie, K. S., Denisova, Y. V., Egelkraut, D., Ehrich, D., Fishback, L., Forbes, B. C., Gartzia, M., Grogan, P., Hallinger, M., Heijmans, M. M. P. D., Hik, D. S., Hofgaard, A., Holmgren, M., Høye, T. T., Huebner, D. C., Jónsdóttir, I. S., Kaarlejärvi, E., Kumpula, T., Lange, C. Y. M. J. G., Lange, J., Lévesque, E., Limpens, J., Macias-Fauria, M., Myers-Smith, I., van Nieukerken, E. J., Normand, S., Post, E. S., Schmidt, N. M., Sitters, J., Skoracka, A., Sokolov, A., Sokolova, N., Speed, J. D. M., Street, L. E., Sundqvist, M. K., Suominen, O., Tananaev, N., Tremblay, J., Urbanowicz, C., Uvarov, S. A., Watts, D., Wilmking, M., Wookey, P. A., Zimmermann, H. H., Zverev, V., & Kozlov, M. V. Polar Biology, 40(11):2265–2278, November, 2017.

Paper doi abstract bibtex

Chronic, low intensity herbivory by invertebrates, termed background herbivory, has been understudied in tundra, yet its impacts are likely to increase in a warmer Arctic. The magnitude of these changes is however hard to predict as we know little about the drivers of current levels of invertebrate herbivory in tundra. We assessed the intensity of invertebrate herbivory on a common tundra plant, the dwarf birch (Betula glandulosa-nana complex), and investigated its relationship to latitude and climate across the tundra biome. Leaf damage by defoliating, mining and gall-forming invertebrates was measured in samples collected from 192 sites at 56 locations. Our results indicate that invertebrate herbivory is nearly ubiquitous across the tundra biome but occurs at low intensity. On average, invertebrates damaged 11.2% of the leaves and removed 1.4% of total leaf area. The damage was mainly caused by external leaf feeders, and most damaged leaves were only slightly affected (12% leaf area lost). Foliar damage was consistently positively correlated with mid-summer (July) temperature and, to a lesser extent, precipitation in the year of data collection, irrespective of latitude. Our models predict that, on average, foliar losses to invertebrates on dwarf birch are likely to increase by 6–7% over the current levels with a 1 °C increase in summer temperatures. Our results show that invertebrate herbivory on dwarf birch is small in magnitude but given its prevalence and dependence on climatic variables, background invertebrate herbivory should be included in predictions of climate change impacts on tundra ecosystems.

@article{barrio_background_2017,
	title = {Background invertebrate herbivory on dwarf birch ({Betula} glandulosa-nana complex) increases with temperature and precipitation across the tundra biome},
	volume = {40},
	issn = {1432-2056},
	url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-017-2139-7},
	doi = {10.1007/s00300-017-2139-7},
	abstract = {Chronic, low intensity herbivory by invertebrates, termed background herbivory, has been understudied in tundra, yet its impacts are likely to increase in a warmer Arctic. The magnitude of these changes is however hard to predict as we know little about the drivers of current levels of invertebrate herbivory in tundra. We assessed the intensity of invertebrate herbivory on a common tundra plant, the dwarf birch (Betula glandulosa-nana complex), and investigated its relationship to latitude and climate across the tundra biome. Leaf damage by defoliating, mining and gall-forming invertebrates was measured in samples collected from 192 sites at 56 locations. Our results indicate that invertebrate herbivory is nearly ubiquitous across the tundra biome but occurs at low intensity. On average, invertebrates damaged 11.2\% of the leaves and removed 1.4\% of total leaf area. The damage was mainly caused by external leaf feeders, and most damaged leaves were only slightly affected (12\% leaf area lost). Foliar damage was consistently positively correlated with mid-summer (July) temperature and, to a lesser extent, precipitation in the year of data collection, irrespective of latitude. Our models predict that, on average, foliar losses to invertebrates on dwarf birch are likely to increase by 6–7\% over the current levels with a 1 °C increase in summer temperatures. Our results show that invertebrate herbivory on dwarf birch is small in magnitude but given its prevalence and dependence on climatic variables, background invertebrate herbivory should be included in predictions of climate change impacts on tundra ecosystems.},
	language = {en},
	number = {11},
	urldate = {2024-03-27},
	journal = {Polar Biology},
	author = {Barrio, Isabel C. and Lindén, Elin and Te Beest, Mariska and Olofsson, Johan and Rocha, Adrian and Soininen, Eeva M. and Alatalo, Juha M. and Andersson, Tommi and Asmus, Ashley and Boike, Julia and Bråthen, Kari Anne and Bryant, John P. and Buchwal, Agata and Bueno, C. Guillermo and Christie, Katherine S. and Denisova, Yulia V. and Egelkraut, Dagmar and Ehrich, Dorothee and Fishback, LeeAnn and Forbes, Bruce C. and Gartzia, Maite and Grogan, Paul and Hallinger, Martin and Heijmans, Monique M. P. D. and Hik, David S. and Hofgaard, Annika and Holmgren, Milena and Høye, Toke T. and Huebner, Diane C. and Jónsdóttir, Ingibjörg Svala and Kaarlejärvi, Elina and Kumpula, Timo and Lange, Cynthia Y. M. J. G. and Lange, Jelena and Lévesque, Esther and Limpens, Juul and Macias-Fauria, Marc and Myers-Smith, Isla and van Nieukerken, Erik J. and Normand, Signe and Post, Eric S. and Schmidt, Niels Martin and Sitters, Judith and Skoracka, Anna and Sokolov, Alexander and Sokolova, Natalya and Speed, James D. M. and Street, Lorna E. and Sundqvist, Maja K. and Suominen, Otso and Tananaev, Nikita and Tremblay, Jean-Pierre and Urbanowicz, Christine and Uvarov, Sergey A. and Watts, David and Wilmking, Martin and Wookey, Philip A. and Zimmermann, Heike H. and Zverev, Vitali and Kozlov, Mikhail V.},
	month = nov,
	year = {2017},
	keywords = {\#nosource, Background insect herbivory, Climate change, Externally feeding defoliators, Gall makers, Latitudinal Herbivory Hypothesis, Leaf damage, Leaf miners, Macroecological pattern},
	pages = {2265--2278},
}

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